‘Xi Jinping’s phone call reaffirms strategic partnership’

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Defence Committee and Pakistan-China Institute Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed described the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s phone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan as timely reaffirmation of strategic partnership.

“President Xi Jinping’s phone call timely reflected that CPEC is resilient, steadfast and on track,” he said during the Pakistan-China Institute's (PCI) webinar on "CPEC: Fact vs. Fiction" under its flagship event series, "Friends of Silk Road (FOSR)" on Wednesday.

It was attended by over 60 participants online, and featured six speeches, including Sher Ali Arbab, MNA, Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman Senate Defence Committee & Pakistan-China Institute, Ms. Tehmina Janjua, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Ms Najma Minhas, Managing Editor of Global Village Space, and Sameer Chishty, prominent corporate leader. It was moderated by Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director of the PCI.

Speaking at the webinar, Chairman Senate Defence Committee and Pakistan-China Institute Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed pointed out that the Pakistan-China relationship is unique, time-tested, non-transactional and not directed against any country.

He termed people-to-people connectivity as the core of this relationship, which was recently manifest in a US Pew survey according to which 83pc Pakistanis view China as a friend. The CPEC Phase 1, he said, improved infrastructure and alleviated the energy crisis, and revived dead projects like Gwadar Port and Thar Coal, employing 75,000 Pakistanis. The best of CPEC is yet to come through SEZs, he said.

Mushahid termed Tuesday’s phone call to PM Imran from President Xi Jinping as timely which reflected that CPEC is resilient and on track.

He also lauded Jinping’s Global Development Initiative as positive for people-centric development. Highlighting the Western countries’ copycat approach to the Belt and Road Initiative, leading the US to launch Build Back Better World (B3W) and the EU to similarly launch Global Gateway. He also pointed out to the creation of ‘Countering Chinese Influence Fund’ by the US Senate allocating $300 million to the media and academia against China. Against this backdrop, he however, rejected any notion of a New Cold War. The PMLN senator concluded by underlining the need for better media management of CPEC.

In his keynote speech, Sher Ali Arbab, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, highlighted the role of parliament in shaping positive public opinion of CPEC. He lauded the work on CPEC Phase One which has bridged the infrastructure gap and made energy shortage a relic of the past. He termed CPEC Phase-II a catalyst for industrial overhaul and called for the inclusion of Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey into CPEC.

Tehmina Janjua, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, recalled the quote of President Xi Jinping during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China in 2019 i.e “No matter how the international and regional situation changes, the friendship between China and Pakistan will always be unbreakable and rock-solid,” and termed it a common sentiment shared by the people of Pakistan at all levels.

Janjua also highlighted the constancy and its amazing capability to transcend the usual considerations of international politics as the striking feature of the Pakistan-China relationship. “For the success of CPEC, we need to expand the beneficiaries of this important project,” she said. The potential beneficiaries in the region include Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asian Republics, she said. The former foreign secretary called for a meaningful engagement with the US on all issues, including CPEC, to realize the dream of regional connectivity.

Najma Minhas, Managing Editor of the Global Village Space, pointed out that the US and India narrative on CPEC aims at disinformation of Chinese involvement in Pakistan through CPEC. She advocated a three-pronged strategy to project Pakistan’s narrative on the project. Minhas also highlighted the dividends of CPEC being reaped by Balochistan. The CPEC Authority, she said, is a step in the right direction.

Sameer Chishty, Chairman of AsiaPak Investments, said that Shenzhen is the most successful special economic zone and Pakistan can learn from the Chinese model through the establishment of joint ventures with Chinese companies. Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director, Pakistan-China Institute, talked of the need to better coordinate activities of civil society organizations with media and academia to formulate people-centric narratives on Pakistan-China relations and CPEC.