PPP stands with Saudi Arabia against any threat: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Former president and co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday said the PPP stands with Saudi Arabia against any threat to the kingdom’s security and integrity.
Zardari Wednesday accompanied by formers prime ministers Syed Yusuf Gilani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Senator Rehman Malik visited the residence of Saudi Ambassador Jasim al Khalidi to express solidarity with the people and government of Saudi Arabia in the current situation arising out of fighting in Yemen.
Zardari said that the PPP was deeply concerned and stands by the kingdom against any threat to its security. “We welcome the Saudi announcement to stop aerial bombing in Yemen and to search for an amicable and peaceful resolution,” he said. Ambassador Jasim thanked the former president for his gesture.
Meanwhile, Asif Zardari said in different interviews that the way forward for Pakistan to make progress and join the comity of developed nations lays in continuity of economic policies. “We appreciate that the present government has pushed forward the agreements on economic projects with China that were entered into during the previous PPP government and hope that this trend will continue in the future as well,” he said.
He said the PPP also appreciates that the present government completed the Multan airport project started by the previous government. “If this realism and maturity had also been shown with respect to energy projects undertaken by the PPP government in 90s there would have been no loadshedding in the country today,” he added.
The former president said that the foundations of durable and strategic relationship between China and Pakistan were laid by visionary leaders of the time namely Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan and Chairman Mao Tse Tung and Premier Chou en Lai of China which has grown and strengthened over the years and was bearing fruit.
He said that as president he undertook as many as nine visits to China visiting all their provinces and regions with aview to learning from the Chinese model of development. “The currency swap agreement, the establishment of the China Bank in Pakistan and the handing over of the Gwadar port to China laid the ground work for durable economic structures to be raised,” he said.
He said a larger economic footprint of China in Pakistan holds great promise not only for the shared prosperity of both countries but also to the prosperity and development of the entire region.
On the reservations expressed by the PPP about the route of Economic Corridor and location of economic projects within the corridor, Zardari said there were genuine and serious concerns that needed to be addressed.
He asked the government to take the Parliament and the political parties into confidence to make the Economic Corridor a real game changer in the region. “We will force the government to share the economic benefits of the projects with all provinces and regions and not just one region,” he added.
He said the decisions about the nature and location of various economic projects in the Corridor must be made transparently and with broad based consensus.He said that the party will consult all other political parties on this issue as it is of concern to the entire nation.