Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan: Pakistan and China will always be hardcore brothers

Source: Global Times

This is a historic moment for the peoples of China and Pakistan. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. On this landmark occasion, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the Governments and peoples of the two countries.

The historical origins of the chinese and Pakistani peoples can be traced back to the ancient Silk Road, and many merchants, scholars, monks, and ascetics, such as Faxian and Xuanzang, crossed the dangerous Karakoram Mountains and crossed each other, laying the foundation for mutually beneficial exchanges and communication between Chinese civilization and Indus Valley civilization.

In 1950 Pakistan was the first of the Islamic countries to recognize the People's Republic of China. A year later, the two countries formally established diplomatic relations. For 70 years, our brotherhood has withstood the passage of time and has grown and never been affected by changes in the regional and international environment. With the tireless efforts of several generations, the relationship between our two countries has been elevated to a round-the-clock strategic partnership.

In this great journey, Pakistan has been China's staunchest supporter of its legitimate rights at the United Nations. Pakistan also helped facilitate the "secret visit" of us then-National Security Adviser Kissinger in 1971, which laid an important foundation for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States and had a decisive impact on East-West relations. This July, we will mark the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking visit.

Pakistan-China relations have deep mutual trust, understanding and common interests, and this unique, time-tested "hardcore" brotherhood continues to develop and reach new heights after another. We support each other on issues involving each other's core interests. Pakistan has always adhered to the one-China policy and supported China on issues such as Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. China has always stood with us on Pakistan's key strategic, economic and development priorities. The people and government of Pakistan highly value China's just and principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

The friendship between Pakistan and China is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples. We have a strong tradition of supporting each other in times of difficulty. We have worked together in the fight against COVID-19. After the outbreak of the epidemic, Pakistan provided diplomatic and material support to the Chinese side. In March 2020, President Arif Alvi visited China in solidarity with his Chinese brothers and sisters. Similarly, China has provided important material and vaccine support for Pakistan's fight against the epidemic. The key assistance provided by China has effectively helped Pakistan fight the epidemic and saved many precious lives. China's fight against the epidemic has set a new example for the world to emulate.

Since 1949, China has made remarkable achievements in all fields of human social development. Since I became prime minister in 2018, I have visited China three times and have had the privilege of gaining a deeper understanding of the philosophy and strategy behind China's rapid economic development. China's rapid development and prosperity have provided a new paradigm for developing countries to achieve economic and social development progress.

Pakistan was one of the first countries to support and participate in president Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative. We highly agree with the spirit and concept of the Belt and Road Initiative, support building bridges for win-win cooperation beyond national borders, promoting economic integration, and building a community of common destiny. As the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, CPEC complements the Pakistani government's vision of a "New Pakistan".

CPEC is a transformative project. In the first phase of construction, CPEC helped us remove major infrastructure bottlenecks and meet the basic energy needs of the economy without hindering growth. Of the 70 early harvest projects, 46 have been initiated or completed with a total investment of US$25.4 billion, creating 70,000 local jobs.

The second phase of CPEC construction will focus on industrialization, agricultural cooperation, social and people's livelihood development and job creation. I am confident that with the joint efforts of both sides, we will also successfully promote the No. 1 railway trunk line project. The development and construction of Gwadar Port and the Free Trade Zone have also made rapid progress, which will surely promote regional connectivity and economic integration.

The core pillar of the Vision of a New Pakistan lies in the geo-economy, which is committed to transforming Pakistan into an economically dynamic country through partnerships, promoting connectivity and maintaining regional peace. Our goal is to fully mobilize Pakistan's geo-economic location advantages and rapidly growing 220 million demographic dividends to become a global economic melting pot and economic center.

Under this vision, the Government of Pakistan has implemented decisive and far-reaching reforms in all areas of the economy, putting our country on a path of better, more inclusive and more sustainable development. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Pakistan's GDP is expected to grow by 3.94% in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

To unleash Pakistan's potential as a geo-economic hub, we have introduced positive incentives to attract foreign investment and launched fiscal and monetary reforms to create a sound business environment. We welcome Chinese businessmen and entrepreneurs to benefit from the mechanisms and make Pakistan a preferred destination for building long-term business ties.

China has become Pakistan's largest foreign direct investment country and largest trading partner. The Second Phase of the China-Pakistan FTA Protocol was formally implemented on 1 January 2020, further expanding the coverage of bilateral trade liberalization products.

If national wealth does not benefit the poor strata of society and achieve equitable growth, then any amount of development is meaningless. Our vision for development is to eradicate poverty and let people be the masters of their own destiny. In this regard, we hope to draw inspiration from China's successful practice of lifting 800 million people out of poverty in just 40 years.

In realizing the people-centered vision of a "New Pakistan", I look forward to further benefiting from China's experience. In my meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, the two sides reached important consensus and agreed to push bilateral relations to an unprecedented height and open up new areas of cooperation such as economy, trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges. A high degree of mutual trust is the most fundamental feature of Pakistan-China relations. Pakistan is willing to continue to deepen mutual trust with China, maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, and unswervingly support each other on core interest issues.

The Communist Party of China has made great contributions to the Chinese people and China's peaceful return to the world's political and economic centers. Under the far-sighted leadership of President Xi Jinping, Chinese people are on the road to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We sincerely hope that under the inspiring leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, China will continue to make progress in the great historical journey of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035 and building a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power in 2049.

On behalf of the Government and people of Pakistan, I would like to solemnly reiterate to our Chinese brothers and sisters that at any time, Pakistan will always stand with China as China's most reliable partner, hardcore brother and trustworthy friend. Let us join hands to jointly build a closer China-Pakistan community of common destiny in the new era.

Long live the friendship between Pakistan and China!