Pakistan & China reaffirm pledge to regional peace

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday reaffirmed the commitment of their countries to collaborate for peace and stability in the region.
During a telephonic conversation, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that India’s Hindutva policies are a threat to regional peace.
Matters of mutual interest, bilateral ties, Afghan peace process, COVID-19 vaccine and other issues came under discussion during the telephone call.
Qureshi said that Pakistan will continue to support the “One China Policy”. He also greeted his Chinese counterpart on the eve of the new year.
Meanwhile, the second meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination was held in Urumqi, China. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaouhi.
The meeting reviewed the progress of the JWG since its inaugural meeting held on 9 April 2019 in Beijing.
The foreign secretary underscored that the CPEC is a transformational project and has opened up significant and far-reaching economic opportunities for Pakistan. “There is complete national consensus on CPEC’s indispensability for our national development efforts. In the first phase of CPEC, we have made major advancement in the domain of energy and infrastructure,” he said.
The foreign secretary said that the CPEC has entered its second phase with vigorous focus on industrialisation, agriculture and socio-economic development. Pakistan hopes that the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being developed under CPEC will rejuvenate Pakistan’s process of industrialization and further spur economic development, he added.
He reaffirmed the government’s resolve to complete CPEC projects in a timely manner. the foreign secretary hoped that the 10th JCC, to be held in the near future, will help create more economic opportunities and contribute to further expansion of CPEC projects. He reiterated that Pakistan would welcome relocation of industry from China and in that regard was instituting a regime to encourage inflow of Chinese investments to Pakistan.
Sohail Mahmood highlighted efforts made by the Pakistan government, think-tanks, academia, and the media to promote a factual, objective, and coherent view of the CPEC projects carefully and transparently designed through mutual consultations. He particularly underlined that there was a need for the international community to comprehensively and objectively analyse the impact of CPEC on Pakistan and the regional economy.
Emphasizing that CPEC was a fiscally responsible project, he reiterated that both sides will welcome third party participation in CPEC projects through mutual consultations. It was reaffirmed in the meeting that China and Pakistan will continue to work closely to promote CPEC’s positive contributions and would encourage think-tanks, media and opinion-makers to understand and examine it as a case-study for international cooperation, economic development, and people-to-people exchanges.
The foreign secretary also welcomed efforts of academia community and policy experts to enhance sharing of best practices and experience in CPEC and BRI development through greater international communication and cooperation.
The next round of JWG will be held in 2021 on mutually agreed dates. – TLTP