DM Monitoring
BEIJING: Professor Cheng Xizhong on Wednesday said if all the countries in the region, like Pakistan, were open-minded and sincerely committed to close cooperation, then every country in the region would have security.
Cooperation among the countries in the region in the field of security was extremely important, Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and Senior Fellow of the Charhar Institute, said in a statement.
He noted that the visiting Iranian Interior Minister Dr Ahmd Vahidi met Pakistani top civil and military leaders on February 14, wherein the two sides expressed strong wish to make joint efforts for a border of peace, friendship and economic prosperity.
Both sides also reaffirmed their strong desire to tap the vast potential and enhance collaboration in diverse fields between the two countries.
Pro Cheng said currently, Afghanistan was facing an extremely serious humanitarian crisis. “If the humanitarian crisis goes out of control, leading to the social collapse and economic meltdown in Afghanistan, terrorism will spread again, thus affecting the security of the whole region, and all countries in the region will be affected.”
As close neighbours of Afghanistan, the two countries could jointly play a positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability, he added.
He pointed out that in terms of economy, Pakistan and Iran had great potential for cooperation. Now, the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was progressing smoothly with fruitful results, creating conditions for broad regional connectivity.
Iran, he said, could actively consider participating in the Corridor construction through substantial investment and its westward extension, so as to achieve the economic prosperity in the whole region, including the Middle East and West Asia.
For the well-being of the people, the regional countries concerned should discard the traditional geo-political thinking, transform to geo-economy like Pakistan and carry out mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation in broad economic areas, he stressed.
Prof Cheng insisted that China had very friendly and cooperative relations with both Pakistan and Iran, while the latter were exploring cooperation in various fields.
With the evolution of the international scenario, he said, the three countries might strengthen the docking of their social and economic development strategies and jointly meet external challenges, commit to regional connectivity and explore the westward extension of CPEC.
Cooperation at the strategic level between Pakistan and Iran, he added, was conducive to further expanding their respective geo-economic interests and maintaining regional peace and stability.
