By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: China strongly condemned the terrorist attack Wednesday night in a hotel in Quetta in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, the Chinese embassy here said Thursday in a statement. A car bomb hit Serena Hotel in Quetta causing many casualties, said the statement, adding that China expressed “condolences to the unfortunate victims and sympathy to the injured.”
It added that Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong was leading a delegation on a visit to Quetta on the same day. “When the attack occurred, the Chinese delegation was not in the hotel. Till present, no reports of casualties of Chinese citizens in the attack have been received.”
Five were killed and a dozen injured in the car bomb attack, according to Balochistan officials, adding that security has been beefed up in major cities across the country after the deadly attack.
Proscribed militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed the attack but it has not been officially confirmed.
Meanwhile, The Foreign Office spokesperson Mr. Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said the Chinese ambassador was not at the hotel at the time of the blast in Quetta and no Chinese nationals were affected. Giving answer to a question by The Daily Mail International Islamabad diplomatic correspondent during the weekly briefing to reporters, Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Quetta yesterday. The Chinese ambassador was not present at the hotel at the time of the attack while no Chinese resident was affected all Chinese engineers are safe, the spokesperson added. He said that Pakistan and China are partners of all seasons and the government is ensuring the safety of the Chinese people. The Foreign Office spokesman said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has been invited by the Saudi Crown Prince to visit Saudi Arabia. He will visit Saudi Arabia soon, but the dates of his visit are yet to be decided.He said that we want to resolve all the long-standing issues with India through fruitful dialogue, but for dialogue, it is necessary to talk about the basic issue of Kashmir, all the basic freedoms of Kashmiris in occupied Kashmir are taken away and the Kashmiris continue living in an atmosphere of fear and terror. He said that India could not push Pakistan to a standstill on the issue of its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and it was not possible, while India had repeatedly asked for legal representation for Kulbhushan.
Mr.Zahid Hafeez said that Afghans believe in a political solution to the conflict, Pakistan’s efforts made inter-Afghan talks possible, Pakistan has always talked about responsible withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan while security in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US forces and no vacuum should be created.
Replying to a question, he said that reforms in Gilgit-Baltistan were an ongoing process, which included legal, constitutional, administrative and political reforms, which were being carried out at the long-standing demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Earlier, Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the blast that hit the luxury venue in Quetta last night was a suicide attack.
The interior minister held a news conference to discuss the Quetta bomb blast from last night that killed five people and injured many others.
He said that the bomber was sitting in his car at the time of the blast, adding that ‘60 to 80 kg of explosives were used in the blast, however, we have ordered the Chief Secretary to conduct an immediate investigation.’
He revealed that during the past 10 days, an estimated 250,000-300,000 social media accounts were created in India, in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan.
Sheikh Rashid said that ‘These foreign forces cannot see Pakistan prosper and progress,’ said the minister.
The interior minister also said that Balochistan and Gwadar are the future of Pakistan and China is the closest friend of Pakistan and reiterated that the armed forces of Pakistan won the fight against terrorism after laying down thousands of lives.
