Daily Times

It all started in the early 1960s, during the days of Cold war China was facing backlash from the western world mainly from the United States of America. China had fought a war with India on the territorial disputes. The newly born state was crumbling and was looking for a friend to avoid International isolation. Pakistan facing problem in the region with its not so good relations with India and was in search of a friend in the region to neutralize the power superiority of India in the region of South Asia.

This international and regional pressure and environment played the role of bringing both the nations together and formed the bases of Pak-China relations. Pakistan realized the importance of its relations with China as it became aware of the fact that western support is unreliable and undependable especially upon the conflicts with India. The war of 1965 was an evident example of the unreliability of western support. No one had the faintest of the idea that both these nations coming close to one another on such terms and conditions would form such amazing relations that with time it turned into an unbreakable bond of friendship. Pak-China friendship is more than half-century-long and there was not a single time there was any dispute or confusion between both the countries in fact both the countries supported each other on every occasion.

Pakistan and China have not only supported each other in the time of difficulty but they have also collaborated on defense grounds, the biggest example of Pak-China defense collaboration is the JF17 Thunder fighter jet which was the product of this amazing collaboration. Now our own engineers are preparing JF17 Thunder fighter jets in Pakistan and these jets have won a number of valuable awards worldwide. These two countries not only have collaborated on defense grounds but also have an interest in supporting the economy by investing in the infrastructure of the country.

Pakistan has made a lot of contracts with the Chinese government upon this particular interest and Pakistan has seen an evolution in its infrastructure in the last decade. The biggest example of the Pak-China infrastructure collaboration is China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is believed to be the game-changer for the nation of Pakistan. CPEC has the potential to turn the crumbling economy of Pakistan into one of the greatest economies of the world. CPEC is a road route starting from Gwadar, going through some of the important parts of Pakistan and heading towards the Chinese border.

CPEC is an attractive point for investors worldwide and investors are taking a good amount of interest in CPEC. It is believed that CPEC is going to be the new economic hub of Pakistan and is going to provide numerous employment opportunities for the youth of Pakistan, which has been deprived of such opportunities. Pakistan faces a lot of issues regarding insufficient power production to find the remedy for such issues both the countries have formed an alliance on the bases of the production of powerhouses.

Chashma Nuclear Power Complex is an evident example of such an alliance where reactors and other facilities are being built under the guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The number of units is functional under the Chashma Nuclear Power Complex in different parts of Pakistan. These are some of the basic reasons that natives of both the country share love and mutual respect for each other.

Here in Pakistan China is believed to be the closest and most reliable friend of Pakistan even more reliable than the United States of America or Saudi Arabia. This is all in history. I can’t say anything more to describe it’s friendship. As a true Pakistani I have a very clean heart towards China because my perception of China being a common Pakistani is very vast and clear. You’re a true friend of Pakistan; where you gave, you also take.

“This will be my first trip to Pakistan, but I feel as if I am going to visit the home of my own brother. Over the years, thanks to the nurturing of generations of leaders and people from all sectors of both countries, China-Pakistan friendship has flourished like a tree growing strong and tall”
Xi Jinping, Chinese President

A day ago, I met a guy whose personal experience regarding China as a public demonstrator was pretty good. According to him, as being a developing country and common border, Pakistan-China has uncountable common things. Travel policy for the natives of both the countries is made extremely easy so that they can travel within both the countries with minimum amount of problems this is the reason we come across a lot of Chinese people who come here to visit and see our cultural heritage, natural beauty, educational purposes and to increase their businesses as well.

We come across the number of Chinese natives and have always shared love and mutual respect for one another because we both believe that our friendship is very important for the solidarity of the region. So, this is for the acceptance of everything China has done for us and a gesture of gratitude towards the beautiful nation of China, with Love.

The writer can be reached at Maryamch947@gmail.com