Govt urged to send delegation to China

ISLAMABAD - Secretary General PML-Q Mushahid Hussain Sayed Friday urged the government to send a high-level security delegation to China to address misunderstandings if any exist with it as the western and Indian media was publishing negative stories finger-pointing at Pakistan for acts of terrorism in its city, Kashghar. Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who is also Chairman Pak-China Institute, also proposed that the delegation should be mandated to discuss bilateral cooperation against the menace of terrorism and extremism and plug in the gaps and remove misunderstandings on this issue between China and Pakistan. He was addressing a seminar titled Regional development and Sino-Pak relations at Sir Syed Memorial Society. It is primary responsibility of the government and the Armed Forces to ensure that no part of Pakistani territory should be allowed for use by any negative forces against the neighbours, including China. Sino-Pakistan ties are solid and strong and no negative propaganda could undermine this robust relationship, said Mushahid Hussain Sayed. Mr Sayed said that Pakistan had condemned the terrorism and separatism in China as stability in China was vital for stability in Pakistan in the wake of three contexts. Pakistan and China are growing closer cooperation which has raised concerns in regional countries and powers. China has announced special economic zone (SEZ) in Kasghar, which would be now a hub of energy, economic, trade and commerce cooperation between China and Pakistan and central Asia, he said adding that Kashghar was the key point now to the future economic and regional cooperation and there was a new great game developing in their region with some elements in the west trying to contain Chinas peaceful rise. He asserted that the negative propaganda about some elements of Pakistan in the Kasghar incidents was a conspiracy to hurt the excellent Sino-Pak relations and cooperation. He said after the US would leave Afghanistan, China and Pakistan would emerge as major players in the region and thus bilateral cooperation was vital. Answering a question, Mushahid Hussain said that Pakistani forces had been active in tracking down Chinese separatists and ETIM leader Hassan Masoom was killed by Pakistan army in year 2003. He said like other countries, there might be some ungoverned spaces inside Pakistan, just like the Pak-Afghan bordering area, where the separatists might be present but Pakistan had to ensure that no part of its territory was used for insurgency in China or any other neighbouring country. Former state minister for foreign affairs Inamul Haq said all religio-political parties of Pakistan were one about the Pakistan-China relationship and none of the leaders had ever uttered a single word or had promoted anything negative which could hurt this friendship. He said the Chinese investments and projects in Pakistan were worth US$ 25 billion that were multiplying with the each day passing. He said apart from the media claims, he doubted that the US forces would leave Afghanistan the way they had not departed from Iraq despite the expiry of deadline of year 2011. Former foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar said that situation in and around Pakistan was dangerous and complex and the country painted a gloomy picture of instability. He said Pakistani leadership should act immediately to stop country slipping further down. He said it was unfortunate that the government was failing in handling the countrys affairs while the opposition like an opportunist was trying to get political space out of the Karachi violence. Khokhar said the Kashghar incident was tragic but the way some western and India media outlets had published reports about the incident from unnamed Chinese sources finger-pointing towards Pakistan was interesting despite the fact that the Chinese officials had contradicted these reports. Prof. Zhong Rong highlighted the central governments efforts to ensure economic development in Xinjiang province. He said the central government of China was going to invest billions of Yuan in Xinjiang to raise the GDP ratio and per capita income of the people of Xinjiang Province. He said Kashghar was going to become an economic hub and regional cooperation after the central government had announced tax-holiday in Kashghar.

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