Parties vow to ensure CPEC progress
Leading political parties vowed to ensure a conducive political environment and favourable public opinion for the progress and development of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), besides shielding it from threats.
The political parties at the conclusion of the Second Conference of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corri-dor (CPEC) Political Parties Joint Consultation Mechanism (JCM), through a joint statement, denounced the "slander on and disturbance in CPEC development by external forces" and pledged to "shape and safeguard the enabling political environment and favourable public opinion for CPEC development".
The JCM was organised by the International Department of Communist Party of China (CPC) in collaboration with the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) on the theme of 'Working Together to Promote Economic Development and Improve People's Lives Through High-Quality CPEC Cooperation'.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and Chinese Minister of the International Department of CPC Song Tao co-chaired the online session. The virtual consultations were participated in by nine Pakistani political parties: Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf, Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Balochistan Awami Party, National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Awami National Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. Senior government officials and representatives of the business community of the two countries also participated in the conference.
President Arif Alvi, in a message to the conference, reaffirmed Pakistan's strong support to One China policy and said Islamabad opposed any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of China with regard to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Mr Song appreciated the political consensus and noted that party-toparty cooperation bet-ween China and Pakistan was increasing as CPEC moved into a new phase.
Senator Sanjrani said that Senate would play a greater role in taking forward the consensus of political parties and delivering political support for more cooperation between the two countries under CPEC.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Aff-airs Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who is also the founding chairman of the PakistanChina Institute (PCI), said: "Pakistan fully supports China in the defence of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, rejects politicising of the pandemic, appreciates China's positive role, and rejects the notion of a new cold war. Both countries support each other's core interests."
He referred to the presence in China of a high-level civil-military delegation led by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing said that the resilient nature of Pakistan-China friendship and CPEC could be gauged from the fact that it survived even the Covid-19 pandemic and became stronger. Executive Director of PCI Mustafa Hyder Sayed called for a 'Health Silk Road' in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and criticised West's double standards on issues relating to China.
Speaking on the occasion, PPP's Parliamentary Leader in Senate Senator Sherry Rehman said that national unity in the country was need of the hour for CPEC to thrive and prosper.
She said that all provinces must be on the same page when it came to the greater good of the country and all of them must be included by the planning ministry in their roadmap project every day.
"The CPEC goes beyond partisan politics for us, and we are all united around one fundamental truth: In a world defined by unexpected conflicts and challe-nges, the CPEC is the economic stabiliser that can steer Pakistan into the 21st century and become a connected highway to the future," the PPP leader said.