BEIJING, Oct 29: President Hu Jintao on Friday said that China would help Pakistan in various development projects and declared that "no incident can affect our trustworthy and cordial relations."
"Sino-Pakistan friendship is a role-model of good neighbourly relations and with our joint efforts there will be a more splendid future of Pakistan-China friendship in the new century," he said during his meeting with National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain at the Great Hall of the People.
The meeting was also attended by National Assembly members accompanying the speaker and Pakistan's Ambassador to China Riaz Mohammad Khan. Talking to APP, the speaker termed his meeting with the Chinese president highly successful and said it was a manifestation of their decades-old deep-rooted traditional partnership.
The Chinese president showed keen interest in economic development of Pakistan and provision of soft loans to help undertake uplift projects. He lauded Pakistan's initiatives for normalizing its relations with India, and said China desired peace in the region. "We appreciate the dialogue between Pakistan and India. We also appreciate Pakistan's role in combating terrorism," he said.
He said he was happy to see that the declaration signed by the two countries during his meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf last year was being implemented. He said the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers by terrorists would not be allowed to affect the close cooperation between the two countries.
The president said China was conscious of the fact that Pakistan had taken all possible steps for the release of the engineers. He expressed the confidence that Pakistan would adopt all measures for the safety of Chinese nationals in the country.
The speaker assured him that all possible measures had been taken to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan. He expressed appreciation for China's assistance for various schemes in Pakistan and said the Gwadar port project was nearing completion.
He expressed condolences over the death of kidnapped Chinese engineer Wang Peng. He said Pakistan desired peace in South Asia and it was pursuing dialogue with India to resolve all issues, including the Kashmir dispute. The resolution of various issues, the speaker said, would allow the two countries to devote their energies and resources to their economic progress.
According to Chinese media reports, the president said the relations between China and Pakistan had developed soundly. "The friendship sets an example for countries with different social systems and cultural backgrounds," he said.
Earlier, Amir Hussain met Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Chairman Jia Qinglin. Both the sides expressed the resolve to strengthen their friendly relations through promotion of parliamentary exchanges.
The chairman said Pakistan and China should work on the possibility of establishing free trade. He thanked Pakistan for its firm support for China on Taiwan, Tibet and other issues. -APP
