by Wang Xiaotong

 

ISLAMABAD, May 18 (China Economic Net) – "I consider myself lucky that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), started when I was in China. As part of the evolutionary process of CPEC, I shared my genuine and sincere sentiment. By far, my best diplomatic assignment was China, no doubt," said Masood Khalid, former Pakistani Ambassador to China, in the latest interview with China Economic Net on the verge of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of China-Pakistan diplomatic ties.

 

 

 

 

From January 2013 to July 2019, busy with work, six and a half years flew. It is the longest stint by a Pakistani ambassador to China so far, and that’s made by Masood Khalid.

 

“As soon as I arrived in China, we started the preparatory work for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Pakistan. During his visit, there’s a preliminary discussion of kicking off CPEC. Shortly afterwards, within two months, we hosted then newly-elected Pakistani Prime Minister on his first official overseas visit to China, during which we signed the agreement for CPEC,” Masood Khalid reviewed the formation of CPEC. “There’s a tradition in Pakistan-China relations that once a Pakistani leader assumes office, his first overseas official visit is to China,” he added.

 

“It took about a year to plan and design mega CPEC because there’re multiple projects in it. At that time Pakistan was facing a serious energy shortage so Pakistan first requested China’s help in the energy and power sector. China said if that’s your priority we’d be happy to help you and share our experience. That’s how Chinese companies came in initially,” Masood Khalid talked about CPEC’s original focus on energy projects like Sahiwal 2x660MW Coal-Fired Power Plant which was completed in only two years. 

 

After energy, infrastructure and transportation projects achieved substantial progress, CPEC is entering the second stage in expanded scope including livelihood, agriculture, tourism, education, etc., and extending cooperation with more countries like Afghanistan. “The most important thing will be the establishment of industrial parks and special economic zones (SEZs) to increase Pakistan’s exports and industrialization,” said Masood Khalid who is expecting redoubled efforts from both sides at the current stage.

 

  

“China was the first country to send COVID-19 vaccines to a foreign country, and that was Pakistan. Back in 2008 when Sichuan was hit by a devastating earthquake, Pakistan sent all its tents to China. These show how we feel for each other, and what kind of sentiment we have for each other,” Masood Khalid spoke of many precious moments in the history of China-Pakistan friendship.

 

Talking about his understanding of why this friendship stands so steadfast, “it is based on commonality of interest, mutual respect, and mutual trust. Trust is very important. We share with each other our problems and our aspirations. We have a convergence of views on issues which confront in the region or on the international scene. That is why we maintain close coordination and cooperation with each other, not only bilaterally, but also multilaterally,” Masood Khalid said.

 

As all-weather strategic cooperative partners, China and Pakistan’s friendship has achieved a lot in the past 70 years. “We have continued to move onwards. We are closely cooperating in economy, trade, defense, education, tourism and media, etc. China is our largest trading partner, and we have just concluded the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Now, Pakistani exporters have good access to explore China's huge market. We have so many good quality products like cherry and the transportation cost from Pakistan to China is relatively low,” he expects more Pakistani products to appear in China’s market in the days to come. 

 

 

“I personally think if Pakistan has to learn from China, it is the Chinese miracle of elimination of absolute poverty, which is unprecedented in human history. China has succeeded in addressing the problem of poverty that 800 million people literally have been out of poverty trap,” Masood Khalid appraised China’s extraordinary achievements in anti-poverty. 

 

Besides, as he observed, China has been becoming a knowledge economy. “For knowledge economy, China is investing a lot in research and development, education, science, and technology. They have selected ten key industries, which will be value added to make China formidable in technology. I think Pakistan can learn a lot, and China is willing to help. CPEC itself provides that platform or umbrella to further our cooperation.”

 

As Masood Khalid sees it, achievements which China has made under the leadership of Communist Party of China (CPC) are all-round and impressive. “I visited China for the first time in 1981. From then on, whenever I travelled in China, I saw China’s development at full speed and positive changes of people’s lives,” he said.

 

“It remains a mystery, particularly for western scholars, to understand as to how China has been able to achieve. They forget that China has a very rich history of 5,000 years old, and there has been continuity in terms of Chinese value system and culture and traditions. They don’t fully appreciate how resilient, how hard-working, how diligent, how serious-minded, and how scientifically oriented Chinese people are. There have been ups and downs in China’s last decades, but CPC decided that we have to change course at the critical moment and they have achieved targets at different stages. Chinese people and CPC should be proud of their achievements,” said Masood Khalid. “Pakistan, as a friend of China, we not only admire their achievements, we feel very happy over their achievements.”

 

In Masood Khalid’s eyes, China-Pakistan relationship is an “anchor for peace and stability in South Asia”. Seeing so many developments taking place in the region, he greeted people of both countries over their achievements. “Despite challenges, despite difficulties, we have not succumbed to pressure and we have stood by each other. We cherish this friendship and take it to our next generations. I am confident that this friendship will continue to gain greater heights in the future,” Masood Khalid concluded the interview.