China Showed Economic Support to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: China’s President met with the Pakistani Prime Minister and ensured China’s economic support to Pakistan to boost the Pak-China free trade agreement. He also talked about the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0 and the cooperation in industries, agriculture, and mining sectors.

Shehbaz Sharif went to China to attend the summit, in which he also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin also invited Shehbaz Sharif to visit Russia in November. He also wished to strengthen the bilateral trade ties between Pakistan and Russia. 

Shehbaz Sharif separately met with the Chinese and Russian presidents. He praised both countries for standing erect with Pakistan in promoting peace in the region. He expressed his hope for both countries to establish peace, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the region. 

On Tuesday, the PM’s office issued a statement, clearly reflecting the Pak-China commitment to enhancing an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. It shows the strong ties between Pakistan and China to enhance development in Pakistan.

Shehbaz Sharif said, “China’s unflinching support to Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and socio-economic development, as well as the significance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as a flagship project of President Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to help both countries to build an even stronger Pakistan-China community with a shared future.”

Shehbaz Sharif also expressed his desire to continue working with China for a long time. Pakistan and China’s developmental progress has now entered the 2nd phase of the CPEC. The PM office said that the Chinese President vowed to continue assisting Pakistan in all fields of economic growth and development. 

China’s stance on security:

The Chinese President said that China is hopeful that Pakistan will strengthen its security ties so that the Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions will be safe in Pakistan. He said, “Effective measures would be taken to ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan, to create a secure environment for bilateral cooperation.”

While working on Beijing-funded multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects in the South Asian country, militants have repeatedly attacked Chinese nationals. That is why the news agency said that China has put pressure on Pakistan to provide security to the Chinese Nationals in the country.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the news agency’s claim and said, “President Xi said security is important.”

Pak-Russia aims to step together towards progress:

Shehbaz Sharif also met with Putin. The meeting ended on a positive note as both leaders expressed their strong desire to establish bilateral ties in diverse fields between both nations. Shehbaz said that the Russian president’s support for Pakistan serves as a balancing act in the region. Shehbaz Sharif also added that we respect Russia’s ties with India. Also, we want to establish our own ties with Russia strongly. 

Putin said, “Pakistan has always been a traditional partner and remains as such in Asia, and we cherish these ties”. He said that we both should focus on resolving the issues and work to enhance bilateral trade ties.