ISLAMABAD – Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has urged the international community to respect PakistanÂ’s efforts as it had rendered invaluable sacrifices in the war against terror.
“We should not link terrorism to any specific religion or nation, and avoid pursuing double standard while dealing with the issue. We should rather focus on the root causes of terrorism and ways to eliminate them,” he said while addressing a joint session of the Parliament.
Services chiefs, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, provincial governors and chief ministers, ambassadors of the foreign missions in Pakistan and other senior Chinese and Pakistani officials also attended the historic address.
Chinese Premier is the first Chinese and 6th world dignitary to address the joint sitting began his speech by greeting the parliamentarians saying; “Assalam-o-Alaikum” and concluded his speech with unanimously lauded slogan, also in Urdu, “Pak-Cheen Dosti Zindabad”.
Premier Jiabao pledged, “China will remain steadfast in its support to Pakistan and will expect the same from the international community. The people of Pakistan will surely overcome (their) difficulties,” he added.
Chinese Premier also vowed to boost strategic cooperation with Pakistan as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Islamabad that concluded by signing deals worth around $35 billion between the two countries.
“It is our collective objective to strengthen strategic ties between our two countries. China and Pakistan are the all-weather strategic partners and share the sorrows and joys of each other as close brothers,” Jiabao said, amidst heavy thumping of desks during his address.
“Let’s stand together, with a new confidence, and begin a new era of progress and prosperity, by jointly confronting all challenges,” he said, adding that both the countries had reached the present stage after passing through difficult phases.
He said as people in Pakistan say that a good neighbour is a blessing, “We in China say it is better to have a good neighbour than a distant relative.” Jiabao expressed the belief that the Pakistani people would be able to surmount all difficulties and assured that “the Chinese government and people would firmly stand by you to face all challenges together.”
He strongly voiced China’s stance against terrorism saying it must not be linked to any particular country or religion. “There should be no dual standards in this regard,” he said and called for making efforts for addressing the real reasons that lead to terrorism. “China’s stance is clear and consistent.
China while standing along with Pakistan and the international community was making sincere efforts to promote cooperation in this regard,” he said.
He assured that China would continue to enhance interaction with Pakistan in all spheres. Premier Wen said Pakistan was passing through a difficult phase as it was facing many challenges and problems. But he was confident that the government and people of Pakistan were determined to tackle these and would move ahead.
“The government and people of Pakistan are united and moving forward to safeguard solidarity, prosperity and sovereignty of the country,” he added. He said the international community was also cognizant of the struggle and efforts being made by the people of Pakistan in facing difficulties and have assured their full support. Premier Wen Jiabao said “The people of Pakistan have neither been influenced by anyone in the past, nor will they be, in future.”
He said it was the joint strategic vision of China and Pakistan to have an all-weather strategic partnership and added that it was “in conformity with the national interests of the peoples of the two countries. It would help promote peace, stability and prosperity of the region.” He said “China and Pakistan ties will get more deeper, closer and stronger.”
Premier Wen Jiabao termed the Pak-China friendship as a pine tree, that remains evergreen despite the harshest of winter, and it has stood the test of time like a strong horse, whose worth is known only when it accomplishes a long journey.
The Chinese Premier assured that China would assist Pakistan in helping it rebuild the damaged infrastructure due to the devastating floods.
“China would fulfil all promises made to Pakistan in this regard,” Premier Wen Jiabao said. He said China supported Pakistan in gaining economic sovereignty and was keen to see it made progress in all spheres through enhanced trade and business. He said China would support Pakistan in energy, transport, infrastructure and other areas. He said that during his visit the two countries agreed to ink business deals worth $10 billion, reflecting wide scope of economic and trade growth between the two countries.
Jiabao said China believed that Pakistan would benefit from the bilateral trade deals and increase its exports to China. He said the ICBC bank has been given permission to open branches at Islamabad and Karachi. He said China was also willing to have a currency swap deal with Pakistan and hoped that their cooperation would enhance further in economic sphere. The Chinese Premier also assured increased cooperation in fields of education and culture.
He said the year 2011 would be celebrated as part of the 60th anniversary of Pak-China diplomatic relations and more exchanges between the two countries would take place in this regard. He said over the next three years, China would provide 500 scholarships to Pakistani students and conduct 2,000 cataract operations in next two years. Jiabao said next year 100 Pakistani students will participate in Chinese language programme in China. He expressed the hope that more Pakistanis would visit China and learn the language. He said over the years the two countries were engaged in student exchange programme and the practice would continue, as it would enhance their people to people cooperation, he added. “We should make joint efforts to meet challenges and promote harmonious and sustainable development of the world,” Premier Wen said. He recalled his visit to Pakistan five years back and said that with the warm welcome, he felt as if he were visiting his home. He said the people of China and Pakistan were like brothers and their ties are “deep rooted” and “rock solid” that have stood the test of time.
Premier Wen said Pakistan has always supported China in all those critical times and mentioned that it stood by China whether it was the issue of membership to the UN General Assembly, relations between the United States of America and China, or on the issues pertaining to Taiwan, Tibet and Sinkiang. The Chinese Premier also recalled that Pakistan was first to support China in the aftermath of the earthquake at the Sichuan province and rushed to its aid.
Prime Minister Gilani said that Sino-Pak friendship “was taller than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey”. Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan said there was no difference of opinion among all strata of Pakistani society as far as the friendship and unparalleled ties between the two countries were concerned.
Later, before leaving the House, Chinese premier shook hands with the heads of the parliamentary leaders sitting on the front and waved his hands to other members of the house in a gesture of respect.