ISLAMABAD, Jan 22 (NNI): President Dr. Arif Alvi received Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong at the Aiwan-e-Sadr Monday and discussed ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The President expressed his gratitude to China for its consistent support to Pakistan on various issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the “One China” policy and other matters of China’s core interests.
The President lauded China’s achievements in economic development, poverty alleviation, IT, education and health sectors, and expressed Pakistan’s keenness to learn from China’s experience and best practices. He also appreciated China’s contribution to the stability of Pakistan’s economy and its assistance in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
The President highlighted the importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and said that Pakistan was fully committed to its high-quality development. He said that CPEC had played an important role in meeting the energy needs of Pakistan and promoting its economic growth. He added that China’s cooperation in the next phase of CPEC would be vital for Pakistan’s industrial development and agricultural modernization.
The President said that economic cooperation would further strengthen the relations between the two countries, which were based on mutual trust, respect and shared vision. He said that Pakistan and China had similar views on various regional and international issues and supported each other on multilateral forums.
The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister conveyed the greetings of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to President Alvi and expressed his satisfaction over the state of bilateral relations. He said that Pakistan and China had a long history of friendly relations, which had withstood the test of time and changes in the international environment. He said that China regarded Pakistan as a very dear friend and always stood by it in difficult times.
He said that CPEC had yielded positive results and created new opportunities for cooperation in various fields. He said that China was ready to work with Pakistan to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen strategic communication, expand pragmatic cooperation, enhance people-to-people exchanges and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability. NNI
