| 7 April, 2005 | Thursday | 27 Safar 1426 |
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Tackling pollen allergy
EVEN though friendship and cooperation between Pakistan and China in economic and security matters is decades old, the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighbourly Relations takes their relationship to a higher stage. To quote Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, the treaty, signed in Islamabad on Tuesday, marks “a new stage in Pakistan-China friendship”. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz struck a similar note when he said the treaty “institutionalizes the broad-based and multi-faceted relationship” between the two countries. The signing of the treaty followed formal talks between Prime Ministers Wen and Aziz in Islamabad. According to Pakistan’s ambassador in Beijing, during the talks China gave a “clear and unambiguous” assurance to defend Pakistan’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”. Tuesday also saw the launching of the production process of the JF-17, a multi-role jet fighter aircraft jointly developed by Pakistan and China. Inaugurating the ceremony in Kamra, President Pervez Musharraf emphasized that the JF-17 testified to “the time-tested, all-weather and deep-rooted” friendship between the two countries. Premier Wen’s current visit, he said, would further strengthen this relationship.
From a modest beginning in 1955 at Bandung, where prime ministers Mohammed Ali (Bogra) and Zhou En-lai developed an understanding, Sino-Pakistan relations have come a long way. The earliest agreements concerned border demarcation, cooperation in civil aviation that led to PIA’s Shanghai flight, and the building of the Karakoram Highway. Since then, the exchange of visits by such luminaries as Suhrawardy, Zhou En-lai, Liu Shao-chi, Ayub Khan and Z.A. Bhutto further consolidated relations. In practical terms, this has found an expression in close cooperation in economic and security matters. Pakistan has always followed a one-China policy, while successive governments in Beijing have upheld Pakistan’s position on Kashmir. Islamabad’s latest move to initiate a process of normalization with India has been backed by China, while Pakistan has reiterated support to Beijing’s anti-secession law passed recently by the Chinese parliament. As for military cooperation, China has been one of Pakistan’s major suppliers of military items, including tanks, heavy artillery, MiGs and naval vessels. A day before Mr Wen’s arrival, Islamabad and Beijing signed an agreement for the construction of four frigates in Pakistan.
As for economic cooperation, the relationship has of late acquired wider dimensions. Some of Pakistan’s mega projects — the Chashma-II nuclear power plant, the Gwadar port, the copper and zinc mines and the Gomal Zam dam — are being undertaken with Chinese assistance. On the whole China is involved in over 100 projects in Pakistan. On Tuesday, the two sides signed 22 agreements, covering a number of areas ranging from trade and investment in industry and agriculture to technical and cultural cooperation. Another landmark agreement is the “early harvest programme” under which China will offer export incentives to Pakistan and bring to zero all tariff on 767 items, including textile goods, surgical and sports items and a wide variety of agricultural products, including citrus and mangoes. This is the first step towards establishing a free-trade area between the two countries. As for investment, even though a number of Chinese companies are engaged in oil and gas exploration and mining, besides automobile, engineering and IT industries, there is vast scope for greater Chinese investment. Islamabad must do more to attract Chinese investment, and as Premier Wen said Islamabad “can expect more and more Chinese enterprises coming into Pakistan and vice versa”. Unfortunately, Pakistani entrepreneurs unfortunately have not availed themselves of the opportunity which China’s vast market offers. That explains why the balance of trade is in China’s favour and the volume of trade is a niggardly one and a half billion dollars.
The agreements and the friendship treaty have been signed 16 months after President Hu Jintao and President Musharraf initialled a landmark declaration of principles in Beijing. The declaration defined the objectives of their relations and was recognized as a roadmap to their future relationship. Specifically, it focussed on the need to cooperate in dealing with “three forces” — terrorism, splittism and extremism. This community of interests found expression on Tuesday when Premier Wen reiterated the two countries’ resolve to fight these “three vices”.
Pakistan and China present a model of meaningful friendship and cooperation to the world. Both have gained immensely from this relationship, and there is no doubt that the future will bring them even closer. However, the government and opposition in Pakistan would do well to take a look at China’s example and try to learn from its experience. What stands between Pakistan and a faster pace of economic and social progress is the depressing domestic scene. Without internal tranquillity and a stable political system Pakistan cannot hope to achieve an economic breakthrough. All Pakistani leaders must keep this in view if they are to forge closer relations with China and other countries in the world and improve the quality of life of their people.
THE acknowledgement by the federal environment ministry at a recent briefing that 80,000 people in Islamabad suffered from allergic reactions may be an indication that the ministry has finally decided to join the effort to eliminate the pollen allergy problem from the capital city. Apart from the fumes emitted by factories in the industrial area and the increasing number of cars, the quality of air has deteriorated over the years also because of the fast growth of paper mulberry trees whose spring pollen is now widely believed to be a major cause of allergic reactions in many people. Increased recognition of the seriousness and extent of this problem during the past few years has prompted a series of efforts to tackle it.
It was the media and some concerned doctors who first highlighted the problem peculiar to Islamabad many years ago, but initial CDA efforts to solve the problem by cutting down the paper mulberry tree were half-hearted and sporadic. Besides, the step was opposed by the environment ministry and some NGOs. A new effort to tackle the problem began in spring 2003 when the Pakistan Meteorological Department first started giving a daily pollen count index. Then in spring 2004, the Islamabad capital territory administration decided to form a Pollen Allergy Relief and Management Society (PARMS) which held a month-long camp in March, and later also in December, where thousands of patients were treated for allergy.
PARMS, in conjunction with the CDA, also charted out a strategy to eliminate mulberry trees from Islamabad within five years and replace these with other types of greenery. The ministry of health also formed a core group of all agencies involved to coordinate efforts of the various departments in coping with the problem. Meanwhile, the CDA has also reiterated its resolve to rid the capital of mulberry trees and replace them with environment-friendly vegetation. But it should ensure that the trees are not merely cut down but uprooted so that they do not grow again. With such an impressive array of departments involved in the campaign, one hopes that the residents of Islamabad will soon be rid of the problem which can even prove fatal in the more sensitive cases.