Kunza Raja
Pakistan has always maintained friendship and cooperation in its foreign relations on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and benefit, non-interference and peaceful settlement of disputes in line with its international obligations and in conformity with the United Nations charter.
If we see Pakistan and China as neighbours, they enjoy all weather, time-tested and deep-rooted relations. It is a model of excellent neighbourly relations based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. This comprehensive strategic partnership is an important factor in promoting peace, prosperity and stability in the region.
Pakistan and China enjoy a complete identity of views on important regional and 
global issues and have worked with complete understanding in all important international fora. To promote world peace and development, they have agreed to work closely on the UN reforms, climate change, energy security and food security. Pakistan has unequivocally upheld One-China Policy.
The depth and genuineness of this all-round strategic partnership can be understood by the statements, observations, gestures and priorities of people and leadership of both the countries.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chose Peoples Republic of China as the destination for his first foreign visit after coming to power. It was a wise decision and indeed a prudent step that has successfully expanded the scope of Pakistan’s strategic partnership with one of its most trusted friend and partner.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first foreign visit since his May election, looking to secure infrastructure projects to tackle a chronic energy crisis and economic depression. President Xi, calling Sharif an old friend of China as well as a good friend, good brother and good partner, said strengthening strategic cooperation with Islamabad was a priority for China’s diplomacy with countries on its periphery.
During the visit Pakistan and China signed eight (MoUs), cooperation agreements after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Premier Li Keqiang, paving the way for inflow of multi-billion dollar Chinese investment in Pakistan and further strengthening the mutually-cherished bilateral strategic relationship.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won solid commitments in a series of meetings with the business and corporate leaders of the host country and it is expected that Pakistani agreements would bring huge Chinese investments over the next few years.
The historic Pakistan-China Economic Corridor involves an estimated cost of 18 billion dollars, requiring construction of a string of tunnels in the mountainous terrain. Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal and Chairman National Development and Reforms Commission of China Xu Shao signed the corridor accord, which the Chinese premier said was a project of strategic value. The two sides also concluded an agreement on the Economic and Technical Cooperation
Another significant MoUbetween Pakistan and China for cooperation to construct Lahore-Karachi Motorway was also signed. After the signing ceremony the prime minister said the government was committed to provide comfortable and affordable transport facilities to its citizens within minimum possible time.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that he feels happy to see the dream of JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft – a joint production of Pakistan and China – coming true, as it was he who had signed the agreement to this effect with the Chinese Premier in 1997.
Chinese Premier Li – Keqiang the first foreign leader to visit Pakistan after Sharif’s election – said in Islamabad that Beijing was ready to speed up work to upgrade the Karakoram Highway as part of a proposed economic corridor between the two countries.
China took control of Pakistan’s Gwadar port, giving it access to the Arabian Sea and Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world’s traded oil. China-Pakistan trade last year reached $12 billion and is targeted to rise to $15 billion in the next two to three years. The China Overseas Port Holding Company has offered to build an international-level airport as well as access roads in Gwadar. It will be a major step towards prosperity of the people Pakistan and particularly people of Baluchistan.
Recently, an agreement for the construction and operation of first-ever Metro Train Project in the province of Punjab was signed in Shanghai,China during the visit of the President of Pakistan to Peoples Republic of China.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Xu-Shaoshi signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments at a ceremony also attended by Chinese President Xi Jiping and President Mamnoon Hussain.
Calling the agreement “historic,” Chief Minister Shahbaz said that the $1.6 billion Orange Line Metro Train Project would prove to be a landmark in the history as it would provide modern and better travelling facilities to the general public, besides brining about a revolution in the transport system.
The total length of the track will be 27.1 kilometres out of which 25.4 km portion will be elevated. The project will start during this year and will take 27 months to complete. Another agreement, Chiniot iron ore estimation agreement was also signed. These are some of the projects which are mentioned and according to some reports China is investing $ 32 billion in different projects in Pakistan which is the sign of trust and confidence of both the friendly countries on each other.
The warmth of this time tested friendship, which is supported by solid foundation of mutual respect and mutual benefits can be gauged from the fact that during the
last three years, there were large number of high level contacts between the two countries. These high level and people to people contacts are extremely important, not only for the consolidation of relations between the leaders and peoples of the two friendly countries but also provide tremendous opportunities to both sides to explore avenues of economic, cultural, tourism, media cooperation and investment opportunities, particularly in agriculture, industry, and energy sectors.
Moreover, the interaction between our intelligentsia, media persons, youth and honourable parliamentarians needs to be further strengthened so that excellent relations between our people continue to flourish in the days ahead. It is high time to transform these good gestures into reality by expanding trade infrastructure and using Pakistan as a trade corridor for the development of both the countries.
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