ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (EW):The Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday Pakistan and China had agreed to continue supporting each other on their core issues, and there was a complete consensus to accelerate high quality development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
A spokesman for the FO was commenting on the recently-concluded official visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China at his weekly briefing to the press.
“I don’t think so. These are Pakistan’s long-stated and long-held principled positions in support of China’s core issues. Pakistan has expressed its support for China all along and we will continue to do that. I don’t think it should impact any of our bilateral relations with other countries,” said the spokesman.
while talking to the media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said that the safety and security of Chinese personnel, programmes and projects have been a matter that has been accorded the highest level of priority by the government of Pakistan.
“We continue to have discussions with our Chinese friends on this. At the highest levels the assurances have been communicated to the Chinese leadership regarding Pakistan’s commitment to ensure the safety and security and to take all necessary measures in that regard,” he added.
During his meetings with the Chinese leadership in the recent visit, he added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed the government’s commitment to high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and highlighted the salience of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for Pakistan’s economic and social development.
Various projects under CPEC including ML-1, Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), projects of the Gwadar port and free zone, cooperation in the areas of agriculture, mining, IT and socioeconomic development were also discussed, he added.
He said that CPEC has been there on the ground for quite a while and it has contributed to rejuvenating Pakistan’s economic development. He said that the first phase of CPEC was focusing on energy shortfall and infrastructure projects while the second phase was focusing on agriculture, industrialization and socioeconomic development, and there is a renewed focus now again on some of the major infrastructure projects.
“CPEC is a flagship project of BRI. It is a project that is aiming at development and socioeconomic progress, not only in Pakistan, but the entire region and beyond,” he said, adding that this is a project for the long term and there are many activities that have been concluded. There are others that are in the pipeline, and there will be projects in the future with mutual agreement and understanding, he added.
On Kashmir, the spokesperson said that China’s position on Jammu and Kashmir has been consistent and always very clearly articulated including in the recent joint statement, and also on support for Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“I don’t see any reason to assume that there is any change in position, either from Pakistan or China, with regard to our respective core issues….So, I can reassure you that there is no shortcoming of any kind in the joint statement,” he stated in response to a question.
On Pakistan’s position on “One China” policy, he said that these are Pakistan’s long-stated and long-held principled positions in support of China’s core issues. “Pakistan has expressed its support for China all along and we will continue to do that.
