SHANGHAI, Dec 17: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday laid the foundation stone of the Consulate General of Pakistan in Shanghai. Speaking to members of the Pakistani community here, he said: "This consulate-general would be our third mission in China.

There is an embassy in Beijing and a consulate in Hong Kong. And now we have acquired a piece of land in the prime area of Shanghai to set up a consulate-general." He observed that a diplomatic mission should have been opened in Shanghai long ago.

"In selecting a consul-general in Shanghai, we have been very fortunate that we have found somebody like Zafar Mahmood who knows the Chinese language very well and is familiar with the country and acquainted with the business community of China," he said.

He said Shanghai had developed like a Manhattan or a New York. The Pakistani Ambassador to China, Riaz Mohammad Khan, recalled that the Pakistan International Airlines was the first international carrier to start operations to Shanghai over 40 years ago.

"An official Pakistani presence in Shanghai has been a long-standing demand of the Pakistani community. I am confident that our interaction with residents will increase exponentially after the inauguration of the consulate-general in this port city," he said.