Oct 18 , 2015
News
Mushahid proposes institution to promote Silk Road initiative
INPISLAMABAD – Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Sunday called the Asian Political Leaders Conference in Beijing the biggest ever gathering of political leaders of the continent.
Senator Mushahid participated in the conference on invitation of the Communist Party of China. Upon his return, he told journalists that the conference also had representation from Africa and Latin America, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Afro-Asian leaders’ conference held in 1955.
From Pakistan, three political parties including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League attended, with a total participation of 70 political parties from 35 countries. As member of the four-man Bureau of the Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), Mushahid addressed the main session of the conference in the presence of China’s Vice President Li Yuanchao.
He also helped draft the final outcome document of the conference, the “Beijing Initiative on Silk Road,” which he then presented before the entire conference where it was adopted unanimously. Senator Mushahid said that Pakistan was honoured as the CPEC was the centrepiece of the Silk Road vision presented by President Xi Jinping who announced an investment of $46 billion for the project.
He also said that the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road both converge at the Gwadar port, which in turn would be linked with the Chin’s Kashgar region through a road and rail network. He welcomed the revival of the Silk Road as it reflected the changes in global power politics, since the balance of economic, cultural and political power was shifting from the West to the East with the resurgence of Asia and peaceful rise of China.
He proposed that a permanent institution be established to promote exchanges and cooperation among the Asian and other political parties to promote the Silk Road vision, practically take it forward and make it into a living reality. This proposal was accepted by all the political parties present at the conference.
The political leaders were received together in a small group by President Xi at the Great Hall of the People, where he said that China seeks a relationship of peace, progress and prosperity with all the 65 countries along the Silk Road on the basis of equality, reciprocity and win-win cooperation.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk