Leghari for greater Sino-Pak cooperation to promote peace; address at 'Boao Forum for Asia'

Former president Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari underlined the need for greater Sino-Pak co-operation to promote regional peace and development. "Pakistan and China need join hands with a particular focus on strengthening mutual co-operation for socio-economic development at bilateral and regional levels", he said while chairing the preliminary session of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference that opened here on Sunday.
Lauding the decades-old traditional Pak-China friendship, Leghari said: "We value our traditional friendship with China whom we consider a trusted partner in our efforts to promote regional and global harmony."
A conference's spokesman told APP that the plenary session that discussed the new role of Asia in the emerging scenario was also addressed by the King of Nepal Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah.
The participants discussed regional economic co-operation against the backdrop of globalisation, integration of regional economies, development paths for Asia and sustainable development of society.
Farooq Leghari, who attended the Forum on a special invitation, being one of the founding members of this Forum, thanked the Chinese leadership for their consistent support to Pakistan, and hoped the relationship between the two countries would grow further in the areas of trade and commerce.
Jia Qinglin, chairman, National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, delivered a key-note speech after the opening ceremony, advocating to build a harmonious and prosperous Asia.
He told the audience of more than 1,200 political leaders, business people, experts and scholars that China is committed to developing good-neighbourly relationship and partnership by constantly deepening friendly relations and mutually beneficial co-operation with other Asian countries.
Facing both opportunities and challenges, Jia suggested: "We should build a harmonious Asia where countries coexist in amity politically, conduct equal-footed and mutually beneficial co-operation economically, trust one another with close co-ordination on security matters, and complement each other culturally."
The celebrities attending the annual conference include Australian Premier John Howard, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Shussel, King Gyanendra of Nepal, Afghanistan Vice-President Abdul Karim Khalili and Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
The theme of the annual event is Asia Searching for Win-Win: New Role of Asia.
The participants during two-day deliberation were expected to discuss such major topics as Asia-Europe co-operation, world economic growth, the prospects of the new round of World Trade Organisation talks, the monetary policy and economic growth.
Since the open regional forum was established in 2001, the BFA has attracted a great number of Asian high-level officials, businessmen, scholars from across the world to discuss regional and global economic and political issues.