If ever Pakistan needed an assurance of firm friendship and all-out help from Beijing, it was forthcoming when Prime Minister Gilani met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday. I wish to stress here that no matter what changes might take place in the international landscape, China and Pakistan will remain for ever good neighbours, good friends and partners and good brothers, said Wen, adding, I do believe that this visit will give a strong boost to the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and take that friendship and cooperation to a new high. The definitive nature of the declaration might sound odd to the Western leaders and political analysts; for, they have been accustomed to shifting alliances in the international political arena, thanks to their imperialistic and neo-imperialistic mindset nurtured over the centuries. But if they were to cast themselves into the mould of neighbours that are peace-loving, caring of each others interests, helpful and cooperative, they would find these sentiments quite in order and well suited to the state of equation that Pakistan and China have developed over the decades since they established diplomatic relations between each other. Fully conscious of the Americans mounting pressure on Pakistani leadership to follow their dictates in pursuit of the so-called war on terror, even if these dictates went against Pakistans national interests, and the sense of inadequacy in Islamabad following its failure to detect the egregious violation of the countrys sovereignty by the US because of the technology gap, the Chinese friends came out with two simultaneous indications of support to boost Pakistans confidence. They offered us anything we needed to make our defences impregnable and revive economy, and counselled the US to respect Pakistan sovereignty, adding that it should appreciate the difficult situation in which Pakistan was at present placed. One means of restoring the morale of Islamabad: the Chinese would quicken the pace of fulfilling their commitments relating to economic assistance and the shipment of defence equipment, including the next batch of 50 JF-17 Thunder to Pakistan. That would more than double the present number of 40 of the aircraft which are with our air force. Besides, new areas of cooperation would be explored and China would send officials of its procurement commission to place orders for Pakistani goods for which the Export Promotion Bureau has provided a list of nearly 300 items. The two Prime Ministers witnessed the inking of three memorandums of understanding on banking, economic and technical cooperation and extension of gold and copper extraction at the Saindak mines. Contrasting the above Chinese gestures of unlimited help with the Americans commitment of aid that materialises more in propaganda than delivery, and the past experience of bailing us out in difficult times, the US figures nowhere. Anyone who still thinks it will in future stand by us when we are in trouble had better put the current scenario into perspective. China has invariably stood us in good stead and we must cast our lot with it.