BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque has highlighted the role of the academia in China-Pakistan relations, saying that ‘diplomacy played a leading role in shaping the contours of international relations’ but it could not perform this gigantic task alone.

He made the remarks via video link at the opening ceremony of the “70th Anniversary Symposium of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Pakistan,” hosted by Tsinghua University’s International Center for Communication Studies and organized by the Center for Pakistan Culture and Communication, CGTN reported.

The role of the think tanks and academic circles to make a faithful record of our bilateral ties, identify new areas of international cooperation, and explore the complex matrix of economics, politics and culture can never be underestimated, said Haque, highlighting the role of the universities working in this area across China and Confucius Institutes in Pakistan.

Moreover, he thanked China for standing by Pakistan during testing times, including the fight against COVID-19. “The vaccine campaign which is going [on] in Pakistan, the 90 percent of it is being done through vaccines provided by China,” he said.

The ambassador also explained the benefits brought by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “CPEC has contributed immensely to Pakistan’s national development by upgrading its physical infrastructure, communication and transport infrastructure, addressing our acute energy needs, and developing of the Gwadar Port,” he said, adding that the focus was to follow a “people-centric approach for socioeconomic development”.

Also speaking on the occasion, Peng Gang, vice president of Tsinghua University, said China and Pakistan share similar traditional cultural philosophy and have the same pursuit of a community of shared future for mankind.