by Shafqat Ali

 

LAHORE, Mar. 16 (Gwadar Pro) - The Centre for Chinese Legal Studies (CCLS) at the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Monday afternoon organized a virtual conference titled: “China-Pakistan Collaboration in the 21st Century.”

 

Attended by LUMS students and faculty, the purpose of the conference was to highlight the collaborative efforts of Pakistan and China moving forward, in light of recent partnerships in cases such as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said an official statement.

 

The conference started off with introductory remarks by the moderator, Professor Sikander A. Shah, Director, CCLS, who introduced the panelists and contextualised Pak-China collaboration to set the foundation for the rest of the talk.

 

Professor Shah focused on the importance of China as a strategic ally to Pakistan in all aspects of foreign policy.

 

He explained that the conference is very timely as CPEC is entering into a new phase and thus, it is important to further study and unearth new opportunities for Pak-China collaboration.

 

The esteemed panel included Dr. Hassan Bashir, Political Scientist, Texas A & M University; Prof. Li Xiguang, Director, Center for Pakistan Cultural and Communication, Tsinghua University; Mr. Mustafa Hyder Syed, Executive Director, Pakistan-China Institute; Dr. Humayun Bashir, Nuclear Medicine Consultant, SKMCH & RC and Prof. Uzair Kayani, Faculty of Law, LUMS.

 

Prof. Xiguang talked about the history of Pakistan and China's deep affinity with the South Asian Subcontinent for thousands of years. Providing a historical perspective on this relationship, Prof. Xiguang pointed out that China learned Buddhism from the land that is now modern-day Pakistan.

Syed focused on how CPEC will affect the future of Pak-China relations and what hurdles still stand in the way of Pakistan’s fully benefitting from CPEC.