Pakistan, China enter into new era of strategic partnership: Sanjrani

ISLAMABAD, Feb 14 (APP):Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has said that Pakistan and China had entered  into a new era of strategic partnership which would go a long way in economic and social  development of the region as both countries were time-tested iron friends.
He expressed these views while talking to Gao Yunlong, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) here at Parliament House on Thursday.

The Vice Chairman of CPPCC is heading a delegation on a four day visit to Pakistan.
During the visit, the Vice Chairman of CPPCC would also meet the President and other dignitaries in Islamabad.
Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani said that Pakistan was proud of its unprecedented friendship with China and the recent visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to China had added a new chapter in the bilateral relations.
He appreciated the momentum in exchange of parliamentary delegations and said that parliamentary diplomacy could better develop understanding on issues of mutual interest. He appreciated that both the countries enjoy cordial parliamentary linkages.
He said that the Upper House of the Parliament had established a Parliamentary Friendship Group which could play a crucial role in cementing the existing ties.
The Chairman Senate said that there was a need to further boost cooperation among the secretariats of the Parliaments in both the countries to steer the cooperation in different areas of mutual interest. He said that the business delegations should also exchange visits for enhancing the economic ties and improving the balance of trade
between the two countries.
He said that CPEC was a flagship game-changer project and “we are committed for its early completion to benefit from its potential for regional development”. He said that the ongoing mega projects under the CPEC including international airport, hospitals and professional training institutes needed to be completed at the earliest.
Sadiq Sanjrani apprised the Vice Chairman of CPPCC that a successful Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) meeting in Gwadar had paved the way for increased interest of the international investors in the region.
He said that APA platform needed to be further strengthened and Pakistan would seek Chinese support for this purpose. Chairman Senate said that the mutual ties between the two countries called for further momentum in people-to-people contacts to strengthen the existing economic and parliamentary linkages.
The Vice Chairman of CPPCC conveyed special greetings of the Chairman
CPPCC to Chairman Senate and thanked for fruitful discussion during his visit of China.
He said that China attached utmost importance to its ties with Pakistan as
both the countries share a common vision and agenda for regional development.
He said that the purpose of this visit was to further enhance the parliamentary relations between the two countries which would be instrumental for steering the political and economic ties.
He said that both the countries share a common stance on most of the
international issues and China looked forward for further cooperation in this area. The visiting dignitary invited Senate Chairman to visit China. Chairman Senate informed the Vice Chairman that a high level parliamentary delegation of Senate would soon visit China to move ahead on parliamentary ties.