Pakistan-China ties based on mutual trust, win-win cooperation: Pakistani senator

The deep-rooted relations between Pakistan and China are based on solid foundations of mutual trust, respect and win-win cooperation, a Pakistani senator said on Tuesday.

"Pakistan's foreign policy towards China is not ideological. It is realistic and pragmatic based on safeguarding its national interests and sustaining its friendship with China," Mushahid Hussain Syed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate's Defense Committee, said at a seminar organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, a local think tank.

The all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries has touched new heights, the senator said, adding that China has never undermined Pakistan's core national interests and Pakistan reciprocated the same by supporting China on its important issues.

Syed said China played a vital role in strengthening Pakistan's economy under the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by constructing road networks from south to north, adding thousands of megawatts of electricity to the national grid, thus helping the country overcome its severe energy crisis.

The CPEC has now entered its second phase after successfully completing the first phase. The second phase will bring socio-economic development and boost Pakistan's economic status in the longer term, he said.

Masood Khalid, former Pakistani ambassador to China, told Xinhua that the ties between the two countries stood the test of time and are exemplary in the world.

Adhering to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and respect for every country's sovereignty and territorial integrity helped forge an exceptionally stronger bond between the two countries, Khalid said.

He noted that China has always extended a helping hand whenever Pakistan needed the most, adding that China's assistance to Pakistan comes with no strings attached.

China assisted Pakistan in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by providing much-needed medical supplies and vaccines, and now when the country is bearing the brunt of climate change in the form of unprecedented floods recently, China provided relief and rehabilitation aid for flood victims, he said.