PM Imran Khan visit to China reinvigorating CPEC
On February 4th 2022, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan visited China to participate in the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
During the visit, he met with the Chinese President Xi Jinping and exchanged views on multiple areas of mutual interests. This has been the “first meeting” of PM Khan with the Chinese President.
PM Khan congratulated the Chinese President on the successful holding of the event in a smooth and streamlined manner and emphasized on the efficacy of sports as the means of fostering mutual understanding and inclusivity among the people of the world. President Xi Jinping appreciated the Pakistani Premier for participating in the opening ceremony and marked it as a sign of iron brotherhood and solidarity between Pakistan and China.
Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasized that as the flagship project of BRI, CPEC contributed greatly to Pakistan’s economic and social development, in line with its shift to geo-economics and the economic security agenda of promoting trade, investments, and connectivity.
Leaders of the two countries acknowledged the major contribution of CPEC projects, particularly in the areas of energy and transport infrastructure, in bolstering Pakistan’s key role in regional connectivity while modernizing its economic base.
They also agreed to task the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) to strengthen cooperation across all areas including in the fields of trade, industrial development infrastructure, scientific and technological cooperation, agriculture modernization and socio-economic well-being of local people.
In order to improve the areas of health, environment and ICT, leadership of the two countries agreed to initiate the China-Pakistan health, industry, trade, green and digital corridors. Most importantly, Beijing and Islamabad agreed to project CPEC from all threats and negative propaganda.
Islamabad reassures Beijing over making all-out efforts for the security of all Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan. While China was content with measures taken by Pakistan to address security concerns of China, both sides said that CPEC was a win-win enterprise and crucial for enhanced connectivity and regional prosperity.
During the meeting, the two leaders reviewed the comprehensive spectrum of bilateral relations and discussed how both countries need to enhance high-level exchanges and institutional linkages. The discussion also included the subject of regional situation as well as the international political circumstances.
The leaders of both countries mutually accentuated how the time tested cooperation between Pakistan and China had benefited the people of both the countries and remained unmoved throughout history.
The Pakistani side emphasized that the relation of the country with China serves as the bedrock of its foreign policy and the friendship enjoys the unshakeable support of the Pakistani people.
Imran Khan also invited the Chinese President to visit Pakistan. The two sides reaffirmed their intention to undertake the visit at a mutually convenient time. Both sides showed satisfaction towards the outcome of three sessions of Foreign Ministers’ dialogue and also agreed to hold the next meeting at an early date.
Khan acknowledged the impact of CPEC on Pakistan’s economic and social development, also cited Pakistan’s shift from geo-politics to geo-economic agenda and its commitment to promote trade, investment and connectivity. Both leaders extensively discussed CPEC and its completed projects.
The leaders also showed interest in signing a framework agreement on industrial cooperation and agreed to further leverage the private sectors and entrepreneurs of both the countries to contribute to mutual development.
The Chinese side also appreciated Khan’s launch of the Pakistan-China Business and Investment Forum, thereby showing willingness to enhance the business sector of both the countries.
The two countries reaffirmed the commitment to safeguarding CPEC and showed willingness to welcome any third party to benefit from the project. Pakistan thanked China for adequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines.
Henceforth, both the nations agreed to develop emergency response systems, public health infrastructure and pharmaceutical industries in Pakistan to combat any future health crisis in the future. Discussions on enhancing the spectrum of education, agriculture, vocational training and cultural exchange between the two countries also took place.
Beijing and Islamabad acknowledged the necessity of a strong defence and security system and vowed to maintain the momentum of defence cooperation between the defence forces that could prove more effective in the protection of CPEC projects in the future.
Khan also welcomed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by President Xi Jinping and stated that Pakistan was willing to further strengthen the development partnership under the GDI.
Both sides signed a number of MOU’s that covered bilateral cooperation in a number of areas including economic, technical, industrial and investment. Infrastructure, space, vaccine, digitalization, standardization, culture, disaster management, sports and vocational education.
Admittedly, prior to CPEC, Pakistan was seen in the prism of terrorism and extremism by the world community. CPEC has greatly changed the perception of the world. Due to the CPEC, the image of Pakistan has improved overwhelmingly.
Foreign Direct Investment FDI in the country has improved since the initiation of CPEC. The growing convergence of interests between China and Pakistan, particularly in great power competition between China and the US proves that Islamabad will not abandon Beijing in the lurch.
