ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter/Monitoring ) - Seconding Pakistan’s stance on the issue of US drone strikes in the tribal areas, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Zhao Qizheng, has said such air raids are a violation of regional sovereignty, a media report said.
Separately, addressing a joint press conference with Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Haji Muhammad Adeel on Monday, Zhao valued Islamabad’s role in bringing peace to once violence-hit Xinjiang province of China. "The Chinese nation is thankful to Pakistani nation for adopting adequate measures to handle the issue of miscreants active in Xingjian in the name of jihad," he said.
Zhao led a delegation at a meeting with Pakistani parliamentarians at the Parliament House. Pakistan reiterated its support to China over the issues of Taiwan, Tibet, Xingjian and other major challenges confronting China.
Thanking for the support assured by Pakistani parliamentarians, he said his country and the people were grateful to Pakistani people and government for such an unshaken support. "It took more than 60 years of Pakistan and China in brining bilateral ties to the current level braving challenges and problems" he said, adding that the situation had changed drastically as cold war had ended, globalisation promoted and war on terror had intensified.
Zhao said his delegation discussed all bilateral issues with Pakistani senators openheartedly and the two sides agreed to promote mutual ties and enhance cooperation in different fields. He announced that his country would grant 500 scholarships to Pakistani students in next five years and hold training workshops for Pakistani media persons.
“Moreover, China will also increase the number of schools and computer labs along with provision of volunteers to impart Chinese language to Pakistani students. Yesterday, beautifully architected Pak-China Friendship here in Islamabad, but I felt least utilisation of the facility. Language courses could be organised at this building to bridge lingual gap between people of the two states.”
Reaffirming Pakistan's support to Chinese policy on Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang issues, he said: “We urge both Pakistan and China not to tie knot with any other nation at the cost of friendship of each other.
For the first time, both the delegations expressed their viewpoint in the meeting in their native national languages with the assistance of interpreters. The miscreants were also condemned for disturbing peace in the name of jihad and defaming Islam in pursue of Western agenda and personal gains.
Adeel said the meeting successfully developed consensus on increasing exchange of visits of parliamentarians to benefit from each other's experiences and bring people of the two countries closer.
He added that all political parties, parliamentarian and people of Pakistan had strong desire to cement relations with China.
Senate Standing Committee on Defence Chairman Mushahid Hussain, Senators Zafar Ali Shah, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Farhatullah Babar and Mudassar Sehar Kamran, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. Mushahid Hussain assured the visitors of Pakistan’s all-out support to China on the issues of Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.