BEIJING: Pakistan Ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi Tuesday said that China’s overwhelming support to help Pakistan fight novel coronavirus pandemic was in fact a symbol of the brotherhood of the two peoples.
“We thank Chinese people for their enthusiasm and support for Pakistan and look forward to strengthening cooperation with Pakistan to continue the fight against the epidemic,” she said in an interview with xuexi.cn, a Chinese news website.
Ambassador Hashmi, in the interview, spoke on mutual assistance in the prevention and control of the outbreak between China and Pakistan, friendly exchanges in various fields and the future development of bilateral relations.
To meet this challenge, she said that Pakistan had mobilized its institutional, capital and human resources to coordinate disease prevention and control. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government was at the forefront of the fight against the epidemic and a COVID-19 National Coordinating Committee was established to review the changing situation.
Pakistan had announced the closure of educational institutions, the cancellation of mass rallies and restrictions on the movement of international flights. Provinces and districts had also taken effective measures to contain the further spread of the epidemic in accordance with local conditions, she added. Prime Minister Imran Khan, she said, called on the entire population to remain united, to avoid fear and panic and to focus on compliance with the necessary protection measures in order to achieve a comprehensive and unified national response. “In the face of this terrible global epidemic, the people of Pakistan are confident and look forward to overcoming this challenge with the help of our friends and in our innate capacity,” she added.
While commenting on Pakistan and China’s mutual assistance in epidemic prevention, she said that Pakistan and China always stood together when they need it. The COVID-19 epidemic had also tested the interconnectedness of the two countries. In the early days of the virus epidemic, China was in the throes of a rapid rise in infection rates and rising deaths, and Pakistan provided the greatest material and moral support to it Iron Brothers. “In a show of unwavering support and solidarity with the Chinese people and government, Pakistan has donated the necessary epidemic prevention equipment to China to help it fight the epidemic, and both houses of the Pakistani Parliament have adopted a resolution expressing firm solidarity and confidence in China’s efforts to control and eliminate the epidemic,” she added.
Ambassador Hashmi said that now that China was the only country to fully control the outbreak. The Chinese people and the government have responded in the same way, fully supporting Pakistan in stepping up preventive measures against the COVID-19.
The Chinese government had sent a special plane to Pakistan with medical professionals and rescue workers to fight the outbreak. By the end of March, China’s aid included 12,000 test kits, 300,000 masks and 10,000 protective clothing. In addition to official assistance, Pakistan had received large donations from leading Chinese entrepreneurs and individuals, she added.
On President Arif Alvi’s recent visit to China, she said that Pakistan and China had a tradition of frequent high-level exchanges, which was a special and recurring feature of bilateral relations.
Prime Minister Imran Khan visited China three times in 2018 and 2019. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan also visited Pakistan in May 2019. “These high-level exchanges have injected new impetus into bilateral relations and reaffirmed our firm commitment to work together in the new era to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results and maintain regional peace and stability.” President Arif Alvi’s recent visit to China was aimed at upholding this long tradition and maintaining the momentum of the leadership exchanges between the two countries.
However, the visit took place in different contexts. This was a very special moment, the Chinese government and people were engaged in a people’s war against the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.
Ambassador Hashmi said that the purpose of the visit was to reaffirm Pakistan’s firm solidarity and firm support for China at this challenging time, to express its condolences to the families of the deceased and to pay tribute to the courage and determination of the Chinese people to fight the epidemic.
During his visit, the president met with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress,Mr. Li Zhishu. These exchanges had traditional warmth and cordiality, which had been a hallmark of bilateral relations at all levels, she added. Ambassador Hashmi said during the visit, the two sides also reviewed bilateral relations in various areas of cooperation, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). They discussed important regional and multilateral issues and decided to further deepen strategic communication and coordination at all levels. Pakistan and China expressed satisfaction with the healthy development of bilateral relations and agreed to further consolidate all-weather relations in the future, especially in the economic and trade fields.
She said that the president’s visit sent a very strong signal that the relationship between Pakistan and China was unique, powerful and unprecedented. This was a reaffirmation of the firm commitment to Pakistan-China relations, the strength of Pakistan-China relations would not be affected by domestic challenges or adverse global turmoil. The president’s visit attracted the attention of the Chinese public and the media, and strengthened and revitalized the fraternal friendship and friendship that had always existed between the two peoples. “In conclusion, I would like to say that this visit has added a new chapter to the glorious history of bilateral relations and provided a strong impetus for the future development of bilateral relations,” she added.
While commenting on cooperation agreements in the fields of energy, trade and industry between the two countries, she said that in recent years, all-weather cooperation between Pakistan and China had been deepening, bilateral cooperation had been expanding and mutual benefit and win-win results had been deepened. “During the president’s visit, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing two joint working groups on agriculture and science and technology. The two countries had also signed agreements to deepen cooperation in pest control and the fight against coronavirus outbreaks,” she added. Ambassador Hashmi said that in the past, the two countries had concluded agreements to strengthen bilateral trade, infrastructure, industrial cooperation and cultural cooperation, and have developed various implementation mechanisms.–Agencieas
