‘Protect CPEC against conspiracies’

LAHORE

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) needs to be protected against international conspiracies. And once it becomes fully operational by connecting all the economies of the region, even the most hostile country, India would ultimately have to join in for the greater economic dividends. It was stated by eminent diplomats and academicians while addressing a seminar organised by the Government College University Lahore Centre for Excellence, China Studies (GCU-CECS) to commemorate the "65th Anniversary of Pak-China Diplomatic Relations". 

If India, a country of more than 1.25 billion people, doesn’t change its hostile policy against Pakistan, it would surely become an ‘outsider’ in the region,” said the former ambassador of Pakistan to United States and European Union, Shuakat Umer. However, he believed that after the successes of CPEC, India would certainly come on a negotiations table with Pakistan with a fairer and peaceful resolve of all the disputes.

Speaking on the occasion, Yu Boren, the Consul General of China in Lahore, said that CPEC was a long-term and systematic process instead of a project or series of projects only. He said China would work with Pakistan to complete projects under construction and also make long-term plans to ensure that the building of the corridor continues to deliver new achievements in the contents of connectivity, industrial cooperation and people-to-people exchange. 

Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairman Prof Dr Nizam-ud-Din and Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah stressed the need for strong academic and research collaboration among the universities of China and Pakistan for technology transfer, which, they said, should be an integral part of CPEC for the real economic benefits. They appreciated the Punjab government’s initiative of sending 500 students to China for higher studies.

Prof Shah expressed to the chief minister’s for choosing GCU, his alma mater, for hosting the concluding ceremony of celebrations in connection with the "65th Anniversary of Pak-China Diplomatic Relations". 

Deeper than the sea, higher than Himalayas and sweeter than honey is not just a rhetorical statement or a declamatory flourish rather, eminent military analyst Prof Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi said, Pakistan-China friendship is one of the biggest realities of international relations because it is based on the principle of mutual interests. Our interests are the same, he asserted.

Former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed said that most unique feature of this inter-state friendship, between two ideologically different rather opposite countries, is that it has survived several political and economic changes in both the countries. Pakistan is founded in the name of religion, while Peoples Republic of China is intensely secular, while their economic and political systems are also different, he said. 

The former diplomats believed that the word corridor misrepresents the remarkable China Pakistan Economic and Strategic cooperation, so must be changed. “Corridor denotes juts a geographical passage while CPEC is far more consequential and will open new vistas peace and prosperity in the region, he said. They also highlighted that CPEC had great strategic dividends for China as it would ensure its energy security by providing an alternative, rather short and more secure, route for its mega oil imports. 

CECS Director Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt revealed that the Chinese Consulate Lahore was deputing two teachers at GCU for teaching Pakistan students Chinese language and culture. He said that the Consulate had already provided the university’s China Studies Center books and computers.

He appreciated the steps taken by the chief minister for bridging the language and cultural barriers between the people of China and Pakistan. Commissioner, Lahore, Abdullah Sumbal said the Punjab government’s five day grand celebrations in connection with 65th Anniversary of Pak-China Diplomatic Relations had concluded with this prestigious seminar at GCU.

Later, Yu Boren and Prof Dr Nizam unveiled the proceedings of recently-held CPEC conference at GCU CECS.