BOAO (China), April 24: Former President Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari underlined the need of greater Pakistan-China cooperation promoting regional peace and development. “Pakistan and China need join hands with a particular focus on strengthening mutual cooperation for socio-economic development at bilateral and regional levels”, he said. Mr Leghari was presiding over the preliminary session of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference that opened here on Sunday.

Lauding the decades-old traditional Pakistan-China friendship, Mr Leghari said: “We value our traditional friendship with China whom we consider a trusted partner in our efforts to promote regional and global harmony.”

A conference’s spokesman said that the plenary session that discussed the new role of Asia in the emerging scenario was also addressed by the King of Nepal Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah. The participants discussed regional economic cooperation against the backdrop of globalization, integration of regional economies, development paths for Asia and sustainable development of society.

Mr Leghari who attended the forum on a special invitation, being one of the founding members of this forum thanked the Chinese leadership for their consistent support to Pakistan and hoped the relationship between the two countries would grow further in the areas of trade and commerce.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference delivered a keynote speech after the opening ceremony, advocating to build a harmonious and prosperous Asia.

He told the audience of more than 1,200 political leaders, business people, experts and scholars that China is committed to developing good-neighborly relationship and partnership by constantly deepening friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with other Asian countries.

Facing both opportunities and challenges, Mr Jia suggested, “we should build a harmonious Asia where countries coexist in amity politically, conduct equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation economically, trust one another with close coordination on security matters, and complement each other culturally.”

The celebrities attending the conference include Australian Premier John Howard, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Shussel, King Gyanendra of Nepal, Afghanistan Vice-President Abdul Karim Khalili and Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

The theme of the annual event is Asia Searching for Win-Win: New Role of Asia.—APP