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Showing posts from April, 2018

Continued Cooperation With China

Two significant events happened earlier this week. The first was Khawaja Asif’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi after participating in SCO Council of Foreign Ministers moot. The second was CPEC Summit 2018 where Prime Minister (PM), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, representatives of all provincial governments and other official reiterated the benefits of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that Pakistan can secure for itself. One thing that is common in both events: Islamabad suggesting its dependency on China for economic and strategic gains from now onwards.

PM at Boao economic forum

Courtesy:   EDITORIAL Addressing the Boao Forum in China's Hainan province, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has pointed out that regional connectivity, open trade and increased economic growth are the key to promoting tolerance and deny space to extremism and that Pakistan is partnering with China to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity through enhanced connectivity. Describing development and security as intrinsically indivisible, the prime minister reportedly said: "Only by spreading the dividends of open trade and shared innovation will we be able to promote tolerance and amity and deny space to extremism." According to him, the China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral framework is aimed at achieving these very objectives while connectivity remains the cornerstone of Pakistan's plans.

The Boao Forum

Courtesy:   Editorial The Boao Forum for Asia in the Chinese province of Hainan is often touted as Asia’s answer to the World Economic Forum at Davos. The three-day forum, which concluded on Wednesday, was an opportunity for China to demonstrate its soft power. Most of the speeches at the Boao Forum touched on the One Belt, One Road initiative by which China is expanding its economic reach throughout Asia. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi devoted much of his speech at the opening ceremony to speak of the benefits of OBOR, particularly the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. He pointed out how under CPEC Pakistan has added 10,000MW to the country’s national grid, created thousands of new jobs and developed the Gwadar Port, all of which contributed to the economy growing at 6 percent in the current fiscal year. President Xi Jinping was similarly effusive about Pakistan in his meeting with Abbasi on the sidelines of the forum. Once again, the focus was primarily economic wi...

Kashmir bloodshed

Courtesy:-  Editorial AS India continues to use brutal methods to crush dissent in occupied Kashmir, it is clear that the Kashmiri people have rejected fear and are bravely confronting New Delhi’s harsh tactics to speak up for their rights. Some 20 people have been killed in acts of violence in the held valley since Sunday — at least 17 by Indian forces.