Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said the Pakistan-China partnership was unparalleled among inter-state relations.
“The history of our friendship is a unique account of unwavering mutual support, mutual trust and mutual respect. Nurtured by successive generations of our leadership and peoples across seven decades, this iron-brotherhood has blossomed into a strong and vibrant All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership,” he said in an article published by Global Times.
He said their relationship was time-tested and timeless, which transcended the normal precepts of inter-state relations and had withstood the vicissitudes of regional and global developments.
“The grand celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic ties last year helped in injecting a new vigour and vitality to our friendship,” he added.
Imran Khan said, “For us in Pakistan, relations with China are the cornerstone of our foreign policy enjoying support across the political spectrum.
I can say with great confidence that our people fully understand the real value of this friendship and enthusiastically contribute to its splendor and glory. No wonder special
metaphors have been coined to illustrate its depth and intensity; the expression Ba Tie only reserved for Pakistanis in China is one such example.
“In the next few days, I will be arriving in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.
Being a sportsperson myself, I can very well relate to the spirit that sporting events like Olympics instill in a nation. I strongly feel that sports should be a unifying factor and should transcend politics. I congratulate the leadership and people of China for hosting this mega event and wish all participants safe, healthy and successful games.”
The prime minister said since his last visit to China in October 2019, the world had undergone a profound transformation.
COVID-19, the biggest contemporary challenge, continued to negatively impact lives and livelihoods across the globe. Climate change, he added, was yet another monster staring down “our eyes with the potential to disrupt all that humankind has achieved to date”.
Imran Khan said,” The imperatives of geopolitics have engendered new alignments in our region, which to many, are reminiscent of ideological confrontation of the last century.
Instability and turmoil that plagued Afghanistan for the past 20 years have come close with a hope of peace finally returning to the region.
The international community’s engagement is essential to avoid economic meltdown and avert humanitarian crisis in that country.”
“The present challenges, colossal as they be, nevertheless stress the need for international cooperation and call for rekindling the spark of multilateralism for peace and prosperity in our region and beyond.
As President Xi Jinping pertinently mentioned in his recent address to World Economic Forum.
“Amidst the raging torrents of global crisis, countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats, but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges.”
The prime minister said history bore witness to the fact that Pakistan and China had jointly traversed such epochal changes in the past and emerged successful. “Our two countries have always supported each other on matters of core national interests.
It is our common vision that enduring peace in South Asia is contingent on maintaining a strategic balance in the region and all outstanding issues like border questions and the Kashmir dispute should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and as per norms of international law.”
“Our bilateral cooperation against COVID-19 further validates the strength of our friendship. As iron brothers, Pakistan solidly stood by China after the outbreak of the pandemic.
From President Arif Alvi’s solidarity visit to Beijing to the dispatch of over 60 planeloads of Chinese anti-epidemic goods to Pakistan, emerged a shining example of mutual support and goodwill. Chinese vaccines have now become the mainstay of Pakistan’s ongoing mass vaccination drive.”APP
