Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong on Tuesday said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as part of the One Belt One Road Initiative provides an important network and platform to achieve win-win cooperation in Asia and beyond. It is the best reflection of the Silk Road spirit, featuring peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and prosperity.
Addressing a national conference on 'Changing Security in South Asia and Development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC),' organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), he said that CPEC is crucial pilot project of One Belt One Road Initiative since it has become a leading demonstration in the promotion of The Belt and Road (B&R), as it now enters full implementation stage, making smooth and satisfactory progress. The ambassador shared that CPEC has cross-border consensus from people of both sides because it follows principles of mutual partnership and peaceful development.
He explained that CPEC follows a new type of international relations based on win-win cooperation by forging partnerships of dialogue with no confrontation, on the basis of friendship rather than alliances. China wants to actively promote policy synergies rather than Cold War doctrinal divisions, he stressed.
Providing data on China's future contributions to the world in the next five years, he said that his country is expected to import goods worth USD 8 trillion, attract foreign investment worth USD 600 billion, and at the same time will be investing USD 750 billion in other countries.
"China and South Asia with their collective population of 3 billion people will be the largest emerging market in the world and with the blueprint of CPEC finally becoming a reality with unprecedented development in four years, the Early Harvest projects are now reaching fruition and growing like bamboo shoots across the land of Pakistan," he concluded.
"We need to put our own house in order as without doing this, nobody would be ready to invest in Pakistan or talk with us," said Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal. The minister agreed to the statements of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif that collaborative efforts must be made to bring our own house in order before asking other countries to invest in Pakistan.
"The prime minister, defence minister and I say we have to put our own house in order before we go to the world and ask it to listen to us. If our own house is not in order, nobody will listen to us," he said. However, he added, "We are close to put our own house in order as we have made significant successes on economic front, achieved the growth rate of 5.3 percent last year, which is the highest during the last 10 years, turned the tide of extremism and terrorism by eliminating terror elements through operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad as well as taking other measures."
The minister further said, "Now we are going to the position where Pakistan can sit with other countries and talk to them honorably." The minister said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a collaborative project between two most reliable partners in the world - Pakistan and China. It has drawn a lot of attention from all over the world. "I have seen reports of different think tanks of the USA, Australia, Japan, India and the Middle East. There is no region in the work where think tanks have not debated the CEPC," he said.
He said this actually shows the potential and opportunities that lie in the CPEC. This has become more interesting as it is happening at a time when the world is evolving a new order, he said. He said that the CPEC is not only the flagship of One Belt One Road Initiative of China but it also comprises half of Pakistan Vision 2025. The CPEC will make a big contribution to this region, he added.
Iqbal said, "We need to focus on economic development as when we are an economic power then every one will respect and listen to us. If we are not an economic power then nobody would give us dignity and respect." He said that there is a clear strong link between peace and development because without peace and stability, there can be no development, adding, "This is what we are missing in this region." If there is no enabling environment in the country, no policy can bring development, he further said.
Stressing on political stability, the minister said, "In the past we continued playing political games in this country. We are not willing to learn the lesson of development from China." He further said that Pakistan can become the hub of trade and commerce of Asia by creating a conducive environment. The minister said that the present government has ensured generation of 10,000MW of electricity as compared to 16,000MW which was generated during 66 years. The energy security would ensure economic security for the country, he said.
President of IPRI, Ambassador Abdul Basit (retd) said that peace is a sine qua non for sustainable development, and Pakistan has always strived for and continues to strive for normal relations with all its neighbors. "Our First Neighbor Policy is driven by the national desire to move from conflict management to conflict resolution. History tells us that we cannot build a sustainable and balanced regional co-operative framework on unpredictable and tenuous bilateral relations," he said. He hoped that the deliberations would lead to improved understanding of the changing security situation in South Asia and help create synergies for a peaceful region.
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