FOREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in an interview on Saturday, once again made it emphatically clear that Pakistan will not make any comprise on its ties with China and multi billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
While the remarks made by Prime Minister Imran Khan in a recent interaction with Chinese media indicated that the US is applying pressure on Pakistan to downgrade relations with China, Mr Qureshi confirmed Washington is conveying a message to Pakistan through various means as well as double meaning phrases in this regard.
The PTI government deserves appreciation for not succumbing to the US pressure while making it clear that under no circumstances it will downgrade its relations with China. In fact this is also voice of the entire nation.
Chinese leadership and people have a special place in our hearts given the fact that they always stood by Pakistan in every difficult situation.
We suggest that this issue must be thoroughly discussed in Parliament and a unanimous resolution passed rejecting the US pressure and reiterating our commitment to further solidify strategic relationship with China in diverse fields.
Though Pakistan has always tried to maintain good relations with the US during last many decades yet time has come to tell Washington that Pakistan could not compromise on its national interests.
We have repeatedly been stating in these columns that a strong bond between Pakistan and China irk many especially those who are scared of the rising power of Beijing.
This is the reason that these elements continue to target the game changer CPEC project.
The best answer to such conspiracies will be that both China and Pakistan further enhance their engagements and collaborations in different sectors.
Already the CPEC has achieved significant progress as far as road and energy infrastructure projects are concerned.
The second phase of CPEC envisaging cooperation in industries and agriculture is more important and critical to change the economic landscape of the region.
We are confident that top leadership of two countries will soon sit together to accelerate progress towards that end.
At the same time, we need to ensure foolproof safety and security of the CPEC related projects to thwart any adverse designs.
