Daily Times

Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing in Brussels on the sidelines of the First Nuclear Energy Summit.

Vice Premier Zhang and Foreign Minister Dar noted with appreciation the traditional ‘Pakistan- China All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ and iron-clad friendship as an exemplary and unique relationship. They agreed on the importance of the longstanding cooperation between Pakistan and China in civil nuclear technology.

Foreign Minister Dar reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding support for One-China policy. He underscored that there was an absolute consensus in Pakistan on relations with China and Pakistan’s strong commitment to phase-2 of CPEC. The Chinese Vice Premier underlined that China would assist Pakistan in stabilizing its financial situation. He expressed Chinese readiness to upgrade CPEC and to further strengthen cooperation in diverse fields including Industry, Mining, and Information Technology.

Meanwhile the he Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar met with the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Almazrouel Suhail on the margins of the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. The two Ministers reviewed the state and potential of bilateral relations. They expressed their desire to further enhance Pakistan-UAE relations particularly trade and investment in renewable energy and transport sectors.

Foreign Minister Dar appreciated the role of the UAE’s in climate diplomacy and noted that COP-28 hosted by the UAE directed global attention towards Nuclear Energy as an option for clean energy. He reiterated Pakistan’s readiness for sharing its experience and expertise in all fields of peaceful uses of nuclear technology, particularly in nuclear reactor operations, safety and establishment of regulatory infrastructure.

The Foreign Minister expressed confidence that conclusion of Pakistan-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will lead to further enhancement of bilateral trade and investment cooperation. The UAE Minister fondly recalled his visits to Pakistan and longstanding family ties with Pakistan. He underscored that the UAE would be a partner in development for Pakistan.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has called upon the multilateral development institutions to consider aggressive financing for nuclear energy projects. In a video message on the sidelines of the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, he said this will help the developing countries install nuclear energy plants. He said other heads of delegations at the summit also asked the international financial institutions to consider the same.

The Foreign Minister said nuclear energy is regarded as the safest source of energy after hydro. He said Pakistan has installed nuclear energy capacity of more than thirty five hundred megawatts. He pointed out that Pakistan is also building another nuclear power plant Chashma-5 with the cooperation of China.