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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Sino-Pak ties critical for regional peace and security: ZardariISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday said that Pakistan-China strategic cooperative partnership was the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and termed this partnership critical for the development, peace and security of the region and the world.
During his meeting with Dai Bingguo, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s representative and State Councilor of China, here at the Presidency, Zardari said that the government and people of Pakistan greatly value China’s support and solidarity with Pakistan in our efforts to safeguard our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The president said that all-weather and time-tested Sino-Pak friendship based on complete mutual trust and respect, go beyond governments and are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of the people of the two countries. He said that Pakistan and China enjoy complete convergence of views on all bilateral, global and regional issues and a commonality of approach to advance the international agenda for peace and prosperity.
The president termed China’s gigantic development as a miracle of the modern times and said that Pakistan as China’s closest friend truly shares the sense of immense pride on her great achievements on all fronts.
Zardari also recalled his previous seven visits to China and said that Pakistan is keen to learn from the Chinese economic and technological development and benefit from its expertise in diverse areas of defence, energy, industry, agriculture, communications, commerce and trade.
He said that the current level of bilateral trade was much below the existing trade potential and urged the need for jacking it up to $15 billion in next 3-4 years.
The president said that the recently concluded Currency Swap Agreement is a landmark development and would help boost bilateral trade and investment as traders and entrepreneurs of the two countries would be able to use both rupee and yuan as exchangeable currencies.
The FTA, the CSA, the Five Year Economic Cooperation Plan, the ongoing financial and banking sector cooperation, the joint projects in infrastructure, agriculture, energy and other sectors demonstrate the strength of our partnership, the president said and expressed confidence that in the years ahead, Pakistan and China will forge even closer economic integration for mutual benefit.
President Zardari on the occasion assured that the Chinese nation would always find Pakistan by its side through thick. Dai Bingguo, thanked the president and government of Pakistan for consistent support to China over its principled position on Tibet, Taiwan and Singqiang and assured that China will stand by Pakistan through thick and thin and will continue to support Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, dignity and honour. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk