China-Pakistan relationship

It is good to learn that Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated President Mamnoon Hussain on Pakistan’s first official membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. There is no doubt about the fact that in recent years, China-Pakistan relations have enjoyed a very strong momentum. The all-weather strategic cooperation between China and Pakistan is not only a valuable asset of China and Pakistan, but also provides a model for building a new type of international relations.

President Xi has always stated that China attaches great importance to China-Pakistan relations and is willing to work closely with Pakistan on high-level exchanges and strategic communications, strengthen friendly exchanges in all fields, steadily push forward the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and cooperation in energy and transportation infrastructure under the “One Belt and One Road” framework to enhance anti-terrorism security. It is about time Pakistan took stock of what actually constitutes China-Pakistan relationship; it cannot be one-way traffic. Pakistan must take every possible effort to protect and preserve this highly valuable strategic and economic relationship with its neighbour, the second largest economy of the world. Our government, for example, must request China’s government to help prepare a strong skilled workforce in Pakistan. It may draw some lessons from China’s approach to its own public-sector entities.

Karachi Tabish Raza