ISLAMABAD: Anti-national elements and enemies of Pakistan are always in search to destabilise it as they have an issue with the prosperity and development of the country.
Recently, five Chinese engineers were killed as a result of the cowardly act of terrorists in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bisham area after which anti-national elements took advantage of this sensitive op-portunity and started spreading disappointment among the people by falsely mentioning that China has stopped working on the dam due to that incident.
On the other hand, the Chinese authorities refuted the rumour that Pakistani workers were fired from the dam project. It is pertinent to mention despite the heinous act of terror which claimed lives of its five citizens, China has resumed work on the Tarbela Dam expansion project. Earlier, in a circular issued on March 26, the company had said that despite the temporary work stop-page, the employees would get their legitimate rights as it asserted no employee was fired.
Similarly, a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the same commitment by stressing the continuation of high-quality development together with Pakistan. The Chinese construction company’s office order flatly rejected false claims by the Indian media re-ports which alleged the layoffs of civil works and employees at a hydropower plant in Pakistan follow-ing the attack.
Along with this, both the Chinese Embassy and Consulate Generals in Pakistan strongly condemned the terrorist attack.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian asserted Pakistan and China have the determination and ability to hold terrorists accountable for their actions while also stressing that any attempt to harm Pakistan-China cooperation would be futile.
The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry also reiterated China’s position on terrorism, “Ter-rorism is the common enemy of all mankind, and it is the shared responsibility of the international community to combat terrorism and prevent the recurrence of such tragedies.”
The resumption of the development work on the Tarbela Dam expansion project has indicated China’s unwavering commitment to promoting infrastructure development and economic cooperation with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed a joint investigation into the terrorist attack in Bisham using all state resources.
Presiding over an emergency meeting after the attack, the PM praised the quick response of law en-forcement agencies and local people which saved many lives.
According to the press release of the PM Office, Federal Ministers, Army Chief, Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Inspectors General of Police of the respective provinces participated in the meeting.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said “together we will act with full determination against all such actions and forces and defeat them.”
The spokesperson expressed Islamabad’s commitment to work with Beijing to ensure the protection of Chinese citizens, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
Thus, the statements issued by the Chinese authorities and the resumption of work by Chinese com-panies at Dasu and the work on the expansion project of Tarbela Dam clearly indicate the continuing cooperation between Pakistan and China despite the efforts otherwise. –Agencies
