BEIJING – China will continue to see Pakistan as priority in itsneighbourhood diplomacy and work with it to take our relations to newheights, Chinese Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfusaid on Friday.
“As the all-weather strategic partner of China, I believe, Pakistan willbecome one of the primary beneficiaries of China’s development andprogress,” he said while addressing a big gathering at a reception hostedby Embassy of Pakistan here in connection with Pakistan Day.He said the two countries continued to strengthen their cooperation in thecomplex regional and international circumstances. During President XiJinping visit to Pakistan in 2015, “our bilateral ties elevated toall-weather strategic cooperative partnership turning a new chapter in ourrelations,” he added.
The Chinese minister opined that acting on consensus reached by our twoleaders, the two countries need to further strengthen partnership andmutual trust, speed up the building of China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) and expand people to people exchanges to strengthen ties among thepeople and also particularly strengthen cooperation in agriculturedevelopment and poverty alleviation.
Han Changfu said at the international fora, Pakistan had become animportant force playing a positive role in United Nations (UN),Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and other multilateralorganizations.Dedicated to the international counter-terrorism fight, Pakistan hadrendered enormous sacrifices and made major contributions for the peace andstability of the region and the world at large, he added.He said China-Pakistan friendship had a long history and it was gettingstrong over the years.
Pakistan was among first countries to recognize the founding of new Chinaand also the first Islamic state to establish diplomatic ties with China.The Chinese minister said that China and Pakistan relations since theinception of diplomatic relations had withstood all the challenges at theinternational level and also went through challenges in domesticcircumstances.
“We have forges all-weather friendship that is higher than mountains,deeper than oceans, stronger than iron and sweeter than honey and we haveconducted all dimensional strategic cooperation,” he added.Han Changfu said over the past 78 years, the hardworking Pakistani peoplehad shown great wisdom in building up their country and their efforts hadpaid off as Pakistan had grown to a national strength and people enjoyed abetter standard of living.
On behalf of the Chinese government, he also extended warmestcongratulations to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on its 78th NationalDay.In his welcome address, Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khalid saidMarch 23 was a historic day for Pakistan. On the very day, the Muslims ofIndian sub-continent adopted the Lahore resolutions which heralded thebeginning of a practical struggle for attainment of Pakistan.
He paid tribute to the father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad AliJinnah, the national poet, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and leading lights for thefreedom movement to this day.Ambassador Khalid said this year Pakistan celebrated the 67th anniversaryof the establishment of diplomatic relations with China, adding, “Ourall-weather strategic cooperative partnership is an account of mutualtrust, respect and shared values.”
He said their relationship had over time transformed into one of the mostimportant relationships in Asia and served as a model in inter-staterelationships.
Ambassador Khalid said the launch of CPEC had further deepened thefriendship. In the outgoing year, CPEC had achieved steady progress in thearea of energy, transportation, networks and Gwadar port, which wasoperational now and the first phase of the trade zone had been launched. Atpresent 22 projects were under implementation, he added.
He said completion of each CPEC project brought “us closer to a realizationof our shared vision for regional connectivity, trade, and infrastructureand energy resources development.”“It is a model of win-win cooperation between our two countries as well asother countries in the region,” he added.
The ambassador said bilateral cultural exchanges and people-to-peoplecontacts had intensified in recent years promoting goodwill and friendshipbetween the two nations. “We will continue to strengthen our linkages inall fields and take our bilateral relations to new heights.”Later, the chief guest along with the other distinguished guest performedthe cake-cutting ceremony.
Two pianists, who arrived here from Pakistan, enthralled the audience withplaying different tunes of national songs.
Secretary-General Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Rashid Alimov,senior diplomats and officials, traders, and a large number of Chinese andPakistanis attended the reception.