By Abid Chaudhry
TWA
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The Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met the Chairman of China International Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) Ambassador Luo Zhaohui in Beijing.
Prime Minister appreciated the robust support of CIDCA for CPEC projects and for Pakistan’s socioeconomic development, particularly the Pakistan-China Friendship Hospital, the Desalination Plant in Gwadar, and the New Gwadar International Airport.
The Prime Minister and Chairman CIDCA exchanged views on the unique and enduring China-Pakistan friendship and the promotion of pragmatic cooperation driven by common development, strategic trust and mutual benefit. They also discussed the mutually reinforcing relationship between development and security.
Terming China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the hallmark of ironclad friendship between Pakistan and China, they noted that the Joint Working Group on Socioeconomic Development under the CPEC had yielded positive results. They also expressed the confidence that the momentum would continue in the CPEC phase II to improve lives and livelihoods of the people.
Prime Minister underlined that the governments and the peoples of both countries had always stood in solidarity with each other during times of natural disasters and calamities. He commended CIDCA’s pivotal role in supporting developing countries and particularly Pakistan during the Covid-19 pandemic, the post-2022 flood reconstruction and grant of polio vaccines.
Chairman CIDCA expressed commitment to further deepening of China-Pakistan cooperation across diverse fields. He also underlined the need to expand bilateral partnership in infrastructure development, climate change response and human resource development, including under the under the ambit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI).
