The transformational China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of President Xi Jinping’s visionary Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), remained at the core of Pak-China relationship and was pivotal to Pakistan’s future economic progress and prosperity. This was stated by Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Director General, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), while addressing the Third Pakistan-China Think Tank Forum, convened in Beijing on 21 July 2023, as part of the series of commemorative events being held in connection with completion of 10 years of CPEC. The 15-member Pakistan delegation visiting China participated in the Seminar jointly organised by ISSI and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), at the CICIR headquarters in Beijing, a press release issued by ISSI here on Sunday said.
Led by Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, the delegation includes diplomats, leading academics, researchers, and media persons. Following the plenary, the separate sessions of the Seminar, titled “Decade of CPEC: Review and Outlook”, were moderated by Dr. Talat Shabbir, Director China-Pakistan Study Centre (CPSC), ISSI; Dr. Hu Shisheng, Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, CICIR; and Dr. Lou Chunhao, Executive Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, CICIR. The speakers at the event included Ambassador Zhang Maoming, Deputy Director-General, Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), China; Head of the Pakistan Delegation Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Director General, ISSI; Prof. Dr. Attaullah Shah, Vice Chancellor, Karakoram International University, Pakistan; Dr. Wang Xu, Executive Deputy Director, Centre for South Asian Studies, Peking University; Ambassador Babar Amin, Former Ambassador of Pakistan to Norway and Australia; Dr. Mukesh Kumar Khatwani, Associate Professor, University of Sindh; Dr. Wang Shida, Deputy Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, CICIR; and Dr. Fouzia Hadi Ali, Associate Professor and Director, Regional Integration Centre, University of the Punjab.
Ambassador Zhang Maoming, Deputy Director-General Department of Asian Affairs, in his keynote address during the plenary extended felicitations to ISSI and CICIR on organising the 3rd Pakistan-China Think Tank Forum. Ambassador Maoming emphasised that Pakistan and China are good neighbours, good friends, and good brothers. He underlined that regardless of the dynamic of international politics, China and Pakistan always firmly support each other.
He added that President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had agreed to continue to deepen bilateral strategic cooperation between the two countries. Ambassador Maomimg underscored that the China-Pakistan friendship was deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples. China extended its support to Pakistani people in the last year’s floods, supported Pakistan in its temporary financial problems, and helped in evacuating the Pakistani nationals from Sudan. He noted that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).