ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis are confident at China’s two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing on May 14-15 as it will also highlight the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is in China to join 28 heads of state and government leaders and representatives of dozens of international organizations. Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and host the round table summit of the leaders, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said in reported comments, according to Xinhua. Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman, Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, said the Belt & Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping will get a major boost with first such Summit bringing together a number of world leaders, scholars and experts. Highlighting the Summit’s 3-fold significance, he said it is the first ever summit of this kind, launching the most significant global initiative of the 21st Century. “It will promote corridors and connectivity among countries, continents and cultures in a big way. It will also give a strong impetus towards globalisation through win-win cooperation,” Mushahid told Daily Times. “Since CPEC is the flagship project of the Belt & Road Initiative, Pakistan’s role will be important in the summit,” he observed. He was of the view that CPEC is successfully moving forward with 17 Early Harvest Projects on track and the people of Pakistan view CPEC as a factor of national unity, uniting the Federation of Pakistan, in a quest for a better tomorrow based on progress & prosperity via CPEC for all provinces and parts of Pakistan, especially the less developed regions. President Xi said this year the forum will explore ways to address regional and global economic problems, generate fresh energy for interconnected development, and ensure that the Belt and Road Initiative delivers greater benefits to people of the countries involved, according to Xinhua. Dr. Manzoor Khan Afridi, completed International Post-Doctoral Fellowship on “Pak-China Relations”, from University of North Carolina Wilmington, NC, USA. says the One Belt and One Road (OBOR) Initiative is the revival of the ancient Silk Road, connecting Asia with Europe alongwith Africa. “The OBOR Summit 2017 will enhance China’s standing in world community as 28 Heads of the States and Governments going to participate. It is Chinese robust diplomacy to attract leaders from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America,” Dr Afridi, who is also Head of Department of Politics and International Relations, International Islamic University Islamabad Pakistan, told Daily Times. He said that China is going to be engaged more with the world community by organizing this year’s biggest diplomatic event. “It has almost to match last year’s G-20 Summit in Hangzhou China. Beijing’s relationship with the most of the world nations has been transformed from estrangement in the Cold War era to engagement in the Post Cold War period. Now it is on march to lead the world in a more peaceful way in 21st century,” he said. Dr Afridi observed that the OBOR Summit will pave way for more people-to-people contact, bringing cultures together to boost harmony and understanding and to increase world-wide trade dealings. “It shows China’s cultural and economic diplomacy in interconnected world to promote interdependence and complex interdependence,” he added.