ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said that Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar’s visit to China will cement the Pakistan-China friendship further.
He arrived Beijing on Monday, Gwadar Pro reported. This visit is in connection with the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) to be held in Beijing from Oct. 17 to 18.
Talking to media persons here, Jalil Abbas Jilani mentioned that the PM’s participation in the forum will involve addressing a high-level gathering with the theme of “Connectivity in an Open Global Economy.”
This visit is significant as it offers an opportunity to assess the extensive spectrum of cooperation between Pakistan and China, particularly within the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Belt and Road Initiative, which is now celebrating its ten-year anniversary, he added.
The Foreign Minister elaborated that during this visit, the Prime Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders along with other prominent figures attending the third Belt and Road Forum.
He informed that the Prime Minister will engage Chinese business leaders, including heads of major corporations, to explore potential areas of cooperation and potential joint ventures in Pakistan. FM Jilani also highlighted the expected signing of numerous agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during this visit.
These MoUs are likely to span various sectors, such as agriculture, health, industry, green energy, and space technology, he remarked.
The Foreign Minister stressed that this visit aims to strengthen the already robust bilateral relations between Pakistan and China.
“It provides an excellent opportunity to comprehensively review the entirety of their cooperation, including China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” he explained.
Earlier, The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) also known as ‘One Belt One Road’ is China’s biggest development project of this century, under which more than 66 countries are being connected on a commercial level.
According to analyst and columnist Asghar Ali Mubarak, the Belt and Road Forum is a multi-stakeholder forum, its purpose is to convince countries around the world to be part of the Belt and Road project, in addition to projecting the project and Promotion is to be done while the third objective is to further strengthen relations with countries already involved in the project.
It should be remembered that the first Belt and Road Forum was held in Beijing in 2017, in which heads of different countries from around the world including the Secretary General of the United Nations also came. 122 countries of the world and 49 international organizations are also part of this important forum. .
The main objective of the Belt and Road Forum is to not only promote China’s project around the world, but also to make everyone aware of it and involved in it. Hence, it is an attempt by China to remove the concerns of other countries from the forum titled ‘Connectivity in an Open Global Economy’ on October 18.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the massive project in 2013, which is modeled on the ancient Silk Road. Its land route is called the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ which connects China to Europe through various road and rail corridors with almost all countries in Asia. –INP
