NOWSHERA: Chinese air force chief Lt Gen Ding Laihang has expressed his resolve to promote cooperation between the armed forces of China and Pakistan.

He was speaking at the passing-out parade of GD pilots held on Friday at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Academy Risalpur, where he was invited as a chief guest.

He inspected the parade and gave away badges to the cadets. The chief guest also presented the Quaid-i-Azam banner to the champion squadron. National anthems of both countries were played during the ceremony.

Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar, army officers, ambassadors of Islamic countries and government functionaries were present on the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony, the Chinese air chief congratulated the passing-out cadets. He said Pakistan and China established all-weather friendship. The Chinese air chief said: “Tomorrow you will be on sacred duty of safeguarding national sovereignty.”

The cadets took the oath to guard the country and remain faithful to it under all circumstances. As many as 109 cadets, including two Saudi nationals, participated in the parade.

Cadet Muhammad Kamran received the ‘Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Trophy Aviation’ and Hamza Hussain collected the ‘Chief of Air Staff Trophy Engineering Aviation’.

The ‘Sword of Honour’ was awarded to Hamza Dogar on overall best performance, while cadet Sajid Farosh was given trophy for quality performance in best air defence.

The ceremony ended with a spectacular fly-past by PAF fighter jets.

Meanwhile, the Chinese dignitary called on President Mamnoon Hussain at the President House, adds APP.

During the meeting, Mr Hussain said Pakistan and China shared everlasting friendly relations, which were also the basis of the country’s foreign policy.

He said that defence relations between the two countries were the guarantee of peace and stability in the region. The president lauded the efforts of Chinese authorities for successfully holding the joint exercises of the air forces of Pakistan and China and expressed the hope that such exercises would also be held in the future.

He thanked the Chinese government and the air chief for providing quality support to the Pakistan Air Force and also expressed his satisfaction over the progress of different projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Frequent exc­hange of high-level delegations between the two countries should continue to further enhance the bilateral relations, he added.

Lt Gen Ding Laihang thanked the president and said he would continue to play his role in promoting relations between the two countries.

Earlier, the president conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz upon the Chinese air chief during a special investiture ceremony at the President House.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jiang and senior officials were present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2018