Pakistan-China relations were always very close and professional. We are in a very challenging situation and China has vowed to consolidate their strategic relationship with us in all spheres of cooperation. With regards to Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China is one of the two world leading countries along with Russia. China has been playing a pivotal role in the development of SCO and its member countries. The meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at SCO will help further strengthen the bilateral relations. The development of Gwadar port is highly commendable and it will bring more opportunities for the local people. We are working quite efficiently in terms of economic and infrastructural development. We are hopeful that Pak, China ties will grow more in the coming days to extend further ventures into the world market.
Visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to SCO forum is highly significant in the present context as Pakistan is facing the worst impacts of climate change. Around 35% of the country is still inundated and relief operation is underway in many areas of Balochistan and Sindh. During the visit, the Prime Minister held meetings with leadership of China, Russia and Central Asian countries. On this occasion, the Chinese leader reaffirmed deep rooted friendship between China and Pakistan and to take it to new heights. CPEC had transformed Pakistan’s socio-economic landscape by overhauling infrastructure and alleviating the energy crisis. He termed Pakistan-China relations as ‘rock-solid’. China has invested heavily in Pakistan under China Pakistan Economic Corridor. China has provided us a new platform for trade and development, and various opportunities to flourish. Pakistan is facing energy crisis and the energy projects under CPEC will help it meet its needs.
The forum of Shanghai Cooperation Organization is more important strategically, as Pakistan is looking forward to geoeconomic cooperation. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Pakistan, which he humbly accepted. On the other hand, we are facing the devastating situation of floods, and any cooperation will be fortunate for us. But unfortunately, we haven’t done our homework according to the potential of this forum. The SCO which includes the world leading powers can be much more useful to bring in more energy supplies for us. Good relations with Russia, Iran and China will help meet energy needs of Pakistan.
Central Asian states hold vast reserves of oil and gas and we can get these hydrocarbon resources from them at cheaper rates. We should also extend our relations with Russia, as the gas pipeline project with them can be beneficial for us. It is said that our relations with the US might suffer due to our warming ties with Russia and China, but it is not true. Currently, the world’s attention is on the Ukraine-Russia war as well as the tensions between China and the US. We are getting the attention because of the devastating flood situation in the country. However, we have to look at the future and work accordingly to increase our exports.
