ZAB, Mao laid foundation of Pak-Chinese friendship: Sherry

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman Friday said that high level contacts cooperation between Pakistan and China are a manifestation of the fact that both sides accord importance to bilateral relations and desire to further deepen ties for mutual benefit.

She expressed these views while talking to Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing who called on her at the Parliament House. Senator Sherry said that Pakistan and China have a history of friendship which was built by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) and Mao Tes-tung and both the countries have stood by the side with each other and seen the vicissitudes of time. She said that this historic friendship has remained beneficial for both in economic and strategic fields while initiatives like CPEC and BRI have added further impetus to bilateral relations between the two sides. She said that the former Prime Minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, former President Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto – Zardari always placed Pak-China relations in highest regards and consensus exists across party lines in relations with China.

Senator Sherry said that it is clear that Asia is rising and that its people need to be the master of their own destiny by controlling their own resources and harnessing the tremendous economic potential of a connected continent. China’s BRI will connect one ocean to another with its projection of economic power and infrastructure across Euroasia. She said, “We hope that CPEC will generate more jobs at very fast pace, more opportunities for Pakistani youth and expediting social and economic development”. She appreciated the fact that Chinese envoy was further proactive in consolidating the Pakistan and China friendship.

The Ambassador informed the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate about the projects initiated under CPEC and said that fourteen projects under CPEC have able to generate seventy thousand employment opportunities for the youth of Pakistan and more projects are in the pipeline which would further provide opportunities to the youth of the country in terms of jobs. He said that locals are a priority in all the CPEC projects.

Senator Sherry termed it a big step in the right direction. “Our youth is highly capable and has the potential contribute towards the socio-economic growth of the country”, Senator Sherry Rehman. She also expressed her good wishes to the government and people of China and underscored the need for more parliamentary interaction to promote people to people contacts. She said that the Pakistan-China Friendship group in the Senate would be revived to institutionalize the bilateral relationship.