ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that Pakistan enjoys excellent, time-tested, all-weather, multi-dimensional relations with China and both the countries have complete trust, mutual understanding and convergence of views on bilateral, regional and international issues. The Prime Minister expressed these views in his meeting with the vice Foreign Minister of China, Mr. Wu Dawei, and Special Envoy of China, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House on Tuesday.
He said that President, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari’s first ever bilateral visit abroad, to China, would open up new avenues of cooperation and would further cement the bilateral relations between the two countries.
While recalling the valuable contributions of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed in nurturing Pakistan-China friendship, the Prime Minister said that this friendship is a factor of peace and stability in the region. These bilateral relations, he added, have matured into a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership which is of great importance for Pakistan’s security and economic development and is vital for defending interests of both the countries.
The Prime Minister said China has always stood by Pakistan at every critical juncture and has proved itself to be a friend even in difficult circumstances. He underscored the need for more cooperation in the field of nuclear power generation which is extremely important for the economic development of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that he is also looking forward to his own visit to China next month to attend the ASEM Summit, on the sidelines of which, he hopes to discuss with the Chinese leadership measures to further boost cooperation in the field of energy, communication, environment, financial and banking sectors, steel and cement industry. It would be the first ever participation by Pakistan in an Asia Europe Meeting at the Summit level.
While discussing the issue of terrorism, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan remains committed to fighting this menace as Pakistan has also become a target of inhuman, heinous and senseless acts of the terrorism. He said that Pakistan is trying to get rid of this menace by pursuing a multi-pronged strategy of political dialogue, socio-economic uplift of the affected regions and military action as a last option where unavoidable. The Prime Minister also assured Mr. Wu Dawei of Pakistan government’s focused efforts for securing safe and early release of the kidnapped Chinese engineers.
The Prime Minister extended an invitation to the Chinese Prime Minister to visit Pakistan in the near future and asked the Chinese vice Foreign Minister to convey his invitation to the Prime Minister of China. He underlined that the visit of Chinese premier at this juncture would be symbolic and will reflect the solidarity of people and government of China with Pakistan in its difficulties.
The vice Foreign Minister of China said that his country is proud of having a friend like Pakistan and is keenly waiting for the visits of the President and the Prime Minister’s of Pakistan to China next month. He reaffirmed China’s unequivocal support for Pakistan in all facets of the bilateral relations and assured the Prime Minister of Chinese government’s resolve to forge ahead with the Pakistan-China strategic partnership.
He said that his country regards Pakistan’s security and economic interests as its own and would help Pakistan in every possible way to overcome the threats posed to the country by the phenomena of terrorism and extremism as well as its economic difficulties. He also said that China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. -SANA
Popularity: 18% [?]
Loading ...
Leave a Reply