Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque has said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as a flagship project to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has changed Pakistan’s infrastructure layout and laid a solid foundation for Pakistan’s future development.
During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan in 2015, the two countries signed more than 50 cooperation agreements and launched a number of projects such as energy, transportation infrastructure and port construction under the CPEC framework, he told People’s Daily in an interview.
He said that the power generation and distribution projects launched and completed by Pakistan and China have greatly alleviated Pakistan’s power shortage and enhanced Pakistan’s trade and investment image. By the end of 2022, the CPEC had directly created 236,000 jobs.
Terming Gwadar Port as the pearl of the CPEC, which is crucial to Pakistan’s economic transformation, he said that this year, many key projects, including New Gwadar International Airport, will make important progress. The new projects will accelerate the development of Gwadar Port and the Free Trade Area.
Ambassador Haque said that the second phase of the construction of the CPEC has been launched, which will strongly promote the cooperation between the two countries in industry, science and technology, agriculture and other fields.
The CPEC is of great significance to Pakistan’s economic development and social progress, which is the general consensus of all sectors in Pakistan, he added.
During Prime Minister Shabazz Sharif’s visit to China in November last year, he stressed that Pakistan is willing to work with China to continue to promote the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two countries also signed the China-Pakistan Industrial Cooperation Framework Agreement, which has injected new impetus into Pakistan’s industrialization, he said.
Ambassador Haque said that Pakistan fully supports China’s Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, because it is in line with our foreign policy goals of maintaining world peace and development, as well as the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and is conducive to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
Pakistan is one of the countries that took the lead in cooperating with China on the implementation of global development initiatives, focusing on cooperation in the fields of economic and social development, poverty alleviation, health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, sports, culture and human resources development.
“We believe that this will further strengthen the all-weather strategic partnership between Pakistan and China,” he added.
Pakistan welcomes the Global Security Initiative Concept Document released by China, supports the settlement of all outstanding disputes through dialogue, and is willing to resolve all outstanding disputes that hinder the development and progress of South Asia through dialogue, he added.
He said that many countries, including Pakistan, have experienced devastating floods, earthquakes and other disasters this year. The solidarity of the international community to provide help to the people of these countries is strong proof that human solidarity and cooperation can transcend narrow geopolitics.
As China’s good neighbour, good friend, good partner and brother, Pakistan will always stand with China to jointly promote world peace and development and jointly promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, he added.
