He was speaking at video conference that was organized to mark the 70 years of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties, by Pakistan-China Institute under the banner of “Friends of Silk Road.”

Nong Rong said, China has so far invested $ 25. 4 billion in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and created more than 75,000 jobs for the Pakistanis, Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong said.

Those who also addressed the envent included General Ehsanul Haq (retd), former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Mushahid Hussain, chairman, Pakistan-China Institute, Sha Zukang, former UN Under Secretary-General and Masood Khalid, Pakistan’s former ambassador to China, ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Tehmina Janjua, former foreign secretary.

The online event was moderated by Mustafa Hyder Sayed, executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute.

The Chinese ambassador thanked Pakistan for its consistent support to China during the past decades. He said the bilateral relationship was being further cemented through mutual support and high-level consultations and visits.

He said, no Pakistani worker was laid off during the pandemic from any CPEC project.

He said Pakistan was the first country to get a donation of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine and said the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will narrow trade deficit and deepen economic cooperation.

He also said 100 million Chinese had benefited from the elimination of rural poverty in China.

Former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Ehsanul Haq (retd) termed “security cooperation as a significant core area of Pakistan-China relations”. He said “75-80% of Pakistani defence equipment comes from China and Pakistan accounts for 35% of China’s military exports”.

Former Under Secretary General of the UN and president of the China-Pakistan Friendship Association, ambassador Sha Zukang said “Pakistan is the most important country in the region for China” and he said “Pakistan-China relations will blossom in today’s world, where changes not seen in a century, were occurring”.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram termed “China the pivot of Pakistan’s foreign policy” and “this pivot will remain” and Pakistan is the strongest defender of China’s territorial integrity.

He said “Pakistan-China policies are completely aligned in South Asia, in the Indian Ocean, in Central Asia, in the Asia-Pacific region”.

Former ambassador of Pakistan to China, Masood Khalid said “China’s rise is an established reality” and he also narrated how 50 years ago, “despite China’s own difficulties during the Cultural Revolution, China provided invaluable support to building Pakistan’s heavy industrial base worth almost $300 million”.

Former foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua quoted President Xi Jinping as telling the Pakistani prime minister in 2019 in Beijing that “no matter how the international situation changes, China will always stand firmly with Pakistan”.

Senator Mushahid Hussain said “people-to-people relations are the core of the Pakistan-China bond” and he referred to his first visit to China in the early 70s as a young teenager in college, “I am very fortunate to have witnessed the remarkable transformation of China in the past five decades through my nearly 100 visits to China”.

He also thanked China for gifting 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan at a time when these vaccines were urgently needed.

He added that during a recent webinar on March 20, organised by the Chinese government, in which he and Dr Kissinger participated, the American statesman had recognised and appreciated Pakistan’s pivotal role in building ties with China.

The webinar lasted for 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an attentive 45 minutes Q&A and discussion among participants, who numbered about 80 diverse and distinguished audience of former policy-makers, students and scholars and representatives of think tanks.

INP/javed