Youth to strengthen Pak-China strategic partnership: PM
ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday expressed his conviction that the youth of Pakistan and China will sustain and strengthen the strategic partnership and the bonds of love between the two friendly countries.“Although the people of Pakistan and China of all ages have deep affection for each other, but it is the youth that will sustain and strengthen this bond of love,” he said.“We will continue to deepen our strategic partnership, expand economic ties and promote people to people contacts. You are both, catalysts as well as leaders in this process,” Gilani told a 100-member Chinese youth delegation led by Ni Jian, Assistant President of All-China Youth Federation here at the Prime Minister House.
Gilani described the youth as inheritors as well as the future architects of Pakistan-China relations and said, “You, along with Pakistani peers, will be fore runners of a new dawn not only for our two countries, but for humanity as well.”
“For me, you are China in miniature as you represent all segments of the Chinese society”, he remarked.
The Prime Minister recalled the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Pakistan last month and said the two sides had decided to maintain and expand step by step the 100 Youth Exchange Programme.
“Yours is the first delegation to visit Pakistan after Premier Wen’s visit. This indicates that we are turning our attention to the youth who will carry forward the torch of the unique friendship between Pakistan and China into the future”, he stressed.
Gilani said he was happy to meet the brightest and most successful young Chinese youth leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, academics, artists and journalists.
He said Pakistan and China have strong bilateral relations, but our relationship has assumed strategic dimensions in changing regional and international scenarios.
“We are grateful to China for giving moral and practical support to Pakistan in the fight against terrorism”, he added.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan and China are both committed to fighting the forces of terrorism, extremism and separatism, adding the youth of the two countries have a special responsibility to advocate the values of tolerance and nurture a culture of harmony within societies and amongst members of the international community.
He said during the visit of Premier Wen Jiabao to Pakistan last month the two sides also agreed to take our relations to new heights especially in trade, economic relations and people to people contacts.
“Our goals are that we should double our trade from current US $ 7 billion to US $ 15 billion in the shortest possible time.”
“We have identified 36 projects for the next Pak-China Five Year Development Programme (2012-16)”, the Prime Minister said and added these include major projects in education, health, energy, Information and Communications Technologies, transport, agriculture, and water conservation.
The Prime Minister said the two sides have also set their priorities which include China’s participation in the reconstruction effort in the flood affected areas; agriculture; highway networks; energy; and finance and banking.
“We will set up a new Energy Cooperation Mechanism which will promote cooperation in conventional, renewable and civil nuclear energy. In this regard, your own interest and involvement will be extremely helpful,” he added.
The Prime Minister referred to the decision of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to open branches in Pakistan and hoped that bankers amongst youth would work towards promoting closer financial and banking ties between Pakistan and China.
Gilani said 2011 is a special year for Pakistan as “Premier Wen and I (have) designated it as Pakistan-China Friendship Year because this year we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the smooth, successful and ever blooming diplomatic relations between our two countries.”
“The Friendship Year’s focus is on youth. We are paying special attention to a number of youth related matters,” he added.
The Prime Minister said the contacts between universities, think tanks, mass media, and film and television will be increased.
“We will send 100 middle/high school students to China for understanding of the Chinese way of life. Right now, there are 6,000 students in China. We want to increase their number to 10,000 as the Chinese educational institutions are becoming more attractive for Pakistani students both male and female,” he added.
The Prime Minister thanked Premier Wen for announcing 500 government scholarships for Pakistani students, adding the Confucius Institute is working successfully to create greater awareness about Chinese culture in Pakistan.
“In education, our focus is on science and technology, applied sciences and promotion of learning of Chinese and Urdu languages,” he added.
The Prime Minister invited the Chinese youth to meet their counterparts and peers in Pakistan and assess how strong Pakistan-China bonds are, adding “You would also discover that Pakistan is a moderate, tolerant and democratic country. Young men and women of Pakistan are as dynamic as you are.”
“We are trying to create an environment where they would be as successful as you are. I am sure our young men and women would value this opportunity to learn a lot from their Chinese peers,” he added.
The Prime Minister hoped that the stay of Chinese youth delegation in Pakistan would be beneficial and rewarding in many ways and that they would take back excellent memories.