Invites Chinese president to visit Pakistan.
BEIJING - Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-HaqKakar on Thursday, calling the bilateral partnership made in “heaven”, said that Pakistan blindly trusted China and that the country would not allow anything to undermine the bilateral strategic partnership.
The prime minister, in his opening remarks while meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Pakistan firmly supported One China policy and would show it through its actions, not mere words.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Third Belt and Road Forum, attended by leadership and representatives of around 140 nations.
“Pakistan will not take an inch back when it comes to our relations with China,” he remarked as the two leaders met to discuss the bilateral and regional matters.
President Xi warmly received the prime minister as he arrived to hold the meeting accompanied by his delegation members, including Shamshad Akhtar, Sarfaraz Bugti, Gohar Ejaz and others.
The prime minister thanked the Chinese leader for inviting him to attend the historic Belt and Road Forum and also congratulated him for the resounding success of the event. He said President Xi’s address at the Forum was “profound, deep and visionary”, which offered a lot of opportunities for the countries like Pakistan. “I used to hear the phrases of (Pak-China friendship) ‘sweeter than honey’ and ‘iron clad brotherhood’, but I realise that this moment is for Pakistan when you say ‘when China does well, the rest of the world does well.’
“This is the moment for Pakistan to come and seize the opportunity,” he remarked.
He said eight proposals President Xi had put forth at the Forum were actually a roadmap for not just physical connectivity but also an important stabilising factor in international order. Prime Minister Kakar said the Belt and Road Initiative was a “pragmatic” and “practical” answer to the global political, economic and civilisational challenges faced by many nations. He said China’s unprecedented progress was a role model which transformed the lives of the millions of its people, also having no parallel in the world history.
He told the Chinese president that across the whole political structures in Pakistan, there was no dissenting view about China. Prime Minister Kakar said that President Xi’s vision of the community of shared future was very relevant in the current disturbing time. In his remarks, President Xi said that China stood ready to work with Pakistan to carry forward the traditional friendship and deepen the bilateral partnership.
He also reiterated the resolve to accelerate building China-Pakistan partnership in the new era of community for shared future for benefit of the two peoples. He also assured that China was committed for the high quality development of CPEC development and working for peace development in the region.
Meanwhile, Kakar in his media platform /X/ said he has extended invitation to President Xi to visit Pakistan which he graciously accepted. “We discussed various dimensions of the multi-faceted Pakistan-China relationship, and reaffirmed our longstanding and steadfast friendship, all-weather strategic cooperation, economic and trade ties, and CPEC. I congratulated him on the success of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum and the 10th anniversary of BRI,” he wrote on the social media platform ‘X’. The prime minister said during the meeting he underscored that Pakistan would continue working with China to promote regional connectivity and economic development, to make Gwadar as a connectivity hub, and for the socio-economic development of Pakistan.
“President Xi reassured that China would continue supporting Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and development, and would continue supporting us in harnessing our geo-economic potential and as a hub of regional trade and economics, which is our shared vision,” he added. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kakar met with a number of Chinese corporate executives on the sidelines of the Third Belt and Road Forum here. During the meeting, he encouraged China’s corporate executives to explore the vast investment potential of Pakistan.
The CEOs and executives of Chinese enterprises who called on the prime minister included Minmetals, MCC, China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), COFCO, Amer International Group, China Energy, Power China and China Gezhouba Group.
The prime minister apprised the Chinese businessmen of Pakistan’s initiatives for economic and financial stability. Sharing Pakistan’s vision for sustainable and inclusive development, he outlined Pakistan’s investor- friendly policies; including the establishment of Special Investment Facilitation Council, which will act as a one-window platform to facilitate foreign investment.
He encouraged the Chinese corporate executives to explore the vast investment potential of Pakistan, especially in ICT, agriculture, renewable energy, textile, digital economy and, mining and minerals sectors. Appreciating the measures taken by Pakistan to attract foreign investment, the entrepreneurs briefed the prime minister on their business portfolios in Pakistan. They also expressed their keen interest in working with Pakistani partners to expand their business footprint in Pakistan. Prime Minister Kakar also invited the executives of Chinese companies to Pakistan to discuss their business interests with relevant ministers. In a separate meeting with Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency LuoZhaohui, the prime minister said that termed CPEC a landmark project in the history of Pakistan- China relations.