MANSEHRA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said enemies’ evil designs to end the China-Pakistan friendship would never succeed, and all mega development projects being executed by Beijing would continue with full pace and might.
“I am here to express my heartfelt condolence with you on five Chinese engineers who laid their lives for the prosperity and development of our country, and assure you their precious blood would never go waste and perpetrators behind this cowardly terrorist attack might be taken to justice soon,” he said during an interaction with Chinese engineers and workers employed at the Dasu hydropower project, during a visit to Upper Kohistan.
The prime minister was accompanied by Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong and federal ministers Amir Muqam and Atta Tarar. He reached Kass residential camp directly from the federal capital and expressed his deep condolences and sorrow over the demise of Chinese engineers in a suicide attack on their coach in the Bisham area of Shangla on March 26, 2024.
“I assure you and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang that we would never provide such an opportunity to our enemies in future to carry out such a cowardly act on our soil,” he said.
Ambassador Jiang calls on govt to ‘flush out terrorists’ from the country
PM Shehbaz said he was saddened by the Bisham terrorist attack.
“I visited the Chinese embassy just after this cowardly terrorist attack carried out by our enemies who want to disturb and damage our friendship which is higher than Himalayas and deeper than ocean, and offered sincerest condolence on behalf of me and nation to the Chinese people and government,” he said.
The prime minister said he had constituted an inquiry committee to probe the Bisham attack and would act on its findings.
“We would never hesitate to act and take to justice all those involved in this attack as the committee constituted just after the Bisham incident shared its findings with us,” he said.
The prime minister said that the security of Chinese nationals working on the Dasu hydropower project and the rest of the country would be beefed up to a level where nobody could execute another ‘cowardly’ act.
He said that the government had taken the Bisham attack seriously and held a high-level meeting, attended by Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, intelligence chiefs and chief ministers of provinces and other high-ranking officials.
It evolved a strategy to ensure no such subversive activities take place again in the country.
“We are going to hold a follow-up meeting within days to finalise our strategy to provide foolproof security to the Chinese nationals working on the Dasu hydropower project and other development projects in progress across the country,” Mr Sharif said.
Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong thanked the prime minister for his visit to Dasu to extend condolences and sorrow to his country natives over the Bisham attack.
“I am thankful to Mr Sharif for his visit here and condolence and all those actions taken by him to console Chinese and their families on Bisham attack, we want such a foolproof security that no such attacks could happen in future,” the Chinese ambassador said.
He said the Pakistani government should also take extraordinary measures to flush out terrorism from the country.
PM Sharif and others present on the occasion observed a silence of 30 seconds for the departed souls.
Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2024
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.