ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Pakistan will not be prodded into downgrading its ties with China after the western powers reportedly stepped up pressure on Islamabad to revisit its ties or choose sides in the Unites States-led engagement against its closest ally.
“It is not going to happen if this [foreign] pressure is put on Pakistan to change its relationship or downgrade relations with China,” he told members of the Chinese media during a virtual press conference recorded on Tuesday but released only on Thursday in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China.
The prime minister observed that the great power rivalry between the US and China is taking place in the region. “It creates problems because what the US is doing is building this regional alliance called the QUAD [to counter China].”
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or QUAD, is a strategic dialogue between the US, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries. Initiated in 2007, the diplomatic and military arrangement is widely viewed as a response to China’s increased economic and military might.
“From that point of view, Pakistan thinks that it is very unfair for the US and all other powers like us to take sides,” Imran said, questioning: “Why do we have to take sides as we should have [a] good relationship with everyone?”
“It is not going to happen. Because relations between Pakistan and China are very deep. It is not just between governments, It is a people to people relationship,” he told the journalists.
Imran further cautioned that the “idea that India is supposed to lean to the Western world to counterbalance China” will be “very detrimental” for New Delhi.
The prime minister observed that China was too strong [for India to take on it]. “India will benefit from trade with China, which is much more advantageous [for it] than acting as a sort of counterbalance,” he said, adding that if a country will lose out, it is going to be India.
Imran further noted that relations between China and Pakistan, contrary to western media reports, have nothing to do with India. The two countries have a long history of diplomatic ties. “Our bilateral relations are extremely strong,” he said.
When asked about how he would respond to reports of him choosing not to criticise Chinese policy in the Xinjiang region during an interview with Axios, which accused Beijing of “buying” dissent, Imran told the Global Times that the official version as to the situation in the region is “completely different” to what is being portrayed by Western media and their governments.
“We have a very strong relationship with China based on trust. So we actually accept the Chinese version,” he said. He also criticised Western media for being “hypocritical” as they turned a blind eye to the gross human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
During the presser, Imran also congratulated China and the CPC on the centenary of the founding of the party. He praised the anti-corruption fight of the Chinese government and the “miracle” that the country and the party were able to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.
CPC, he said, is a unique model. “While they had been told that the best way for a society to improve itself is to follow the Western system of liberal democracy, the CPC actually beat all Western democracies by nurturing a society that brings things forward,” he said.
“What the CPC has done is that, without that electoral democracy, it has actually fared much better. What I saw in China when I visit the Communist Party headquarters and when they give us briefings about their system of sifting talent and then grooming it and bringing it up, for me it is probably more remarkable than any electoral democracy.”
The prime minister stressed that the CPC has a “flexible system” when they seek to try something. The system allows them to bring about a change, while in Western democracies it is very difficult.
“Besides, China has long-term planning while in an electoral democracies people only look for the next presidential term.”
Climate change, Imran said, is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. And the CPC has been upholding the idea of the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and leading China to do a large amount of work in protecting the environment and tackling climate change.
2021 also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China. Imran stated that Pakistan is committed to strengthening its political relations with China, as well as in the economy and trade.
“The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a flagship programme of the Belt and Road Initiative, and for Pakistan, it is the one program which gives us the greatest optimism and hope for our future economic development,” he said.
He said that Pakistan hopes to attract Chinese industry to its special economic zones by offering incentives to businesses. “In Pakistan, the labour is much cheaper than in China. We hope to attract businesses which will benefit from our cheaper labour.”
Pakistan also hopes to get more help from China to develop its agriculture and improve productivity.
In the fight against Covid-19, China has not only performed exemplarily within the country but also helped many other countries, including Pakistan, control the crisis through timely vaccine provision and other ways, he recalled.
Hailing the vaccine provision as timely help, the prime minister said that his country was able to kick off the nationwide vaccination drive because of the vaccine doses from China to vaccinate frontline health workers and senior citizens in the first phase, “which gives us a lot of confidence.”
Global Times and Xinhua contributed to this report
