Islamabad, 27 April 2023 (TDI): On Thursday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, had a comprehensive and productive telephone conversation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Both leaders reaffirmed their strong ties and cooperation in various fields.
PM Shehbaz appreciated China’s approach to peaceful development. He called this peaceful development a positive factor in ensuring international peace and stability. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s support to China on its core issues.
Moreover, the PM also appreciated China’s unflinching support of Pakistan. Furthermore, they reviewed progress on Pakistan-China initiatives, including China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), for greater win-win outcomes.
Premier Li Qiang suggested both countries should expand their cooperation in agriculture, minerals, science and technology, and information technology. China was prepared to continuously import more quality agricultural and livestock products from Pakistan. Moreover, China promotes industrial cooperation between Pakistan and China.
Talking about the financial condition of Pakistan, the Premier said China supported in maintaining financial stability. He hoped that Pakistan would create a feasible environment and guarantee the security of the Chinese financial institutions and their personnel in Pakistan.
Also Read: Pakistan Acknowledges China’s Contribution to CPEC Success
Premier Li added that China firmly supports Pakistan in combatting terrorism, maintaining unity and stability, and achieving revitalization and development. He suggested both countries should cooperate in upholding international fairness and justice, safeguarding the common interests of both countries and other developing countries,
and defend regional peace and security.
Pak-China Cooperation under CPEC and Challenges to CPEC:
Pakistan-China enjoys strong ties from the beginning. But their friendship has reached new heights since the inauguration of CPEC, a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). CPEC will provide China with an alternative route to the Western-dominated maritime route in the South China Sea. The CPEC route will not only reduce time and cost but also increases the security of Chinese supply lines.
However, the CPEC projects face hurdles due to increasing terrorism from Afghanistan. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has targeted Chinese projects and its nationals in Pakistan. These attacks significantly increased due to the ascent of the Afghan Taliban to Power in Kabul in August 2021.
