BEIJING, July 5: Pakistan and China have agreed on a working plan for taking effective measures to prevent and combat terrorism, said Interior Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat.
In an interview with APP in Beijing, he termed his four-day visit to China, which concluded on Monday, as highly successful, stating that he held a detailed discussion with the Chinese high-ups for effectively dealing with their common security concerns.
During his talks with Chinese Minister for Public Security Zhou Yongkang, it was decided that the two sides will enhance cooperation in strengthening their existing security network for providing peace and security to their people.
"We have identified specific areas of bilateral cooperation to make the ongoing campaign against terrorism more effective," he said, adding the relevant agencies of the two countries would be in contact round-the-clock to monitor and control the activities of the terrorist groups in their respective territory, inside and around the border area.
A joint working group of the two countries will meet by end of this month in Islamabad to further review the anti-terrorism security arrangements. A Chinese delegation, to be led by Vice Minister for Public Security, will visit Pakistan to attend the meeting.
Faisal Saleh Hayat said the joint working group that was established under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2001 was supposed to meet once a year. But, now it was decided that the working group will meet more frequently because of the prevalent security scenario.
The two sides also discussed a plan for exchange of relevant information and training of their police personnel. The police training academies in the two countries will cooperate for updating their counter-terrorism knowledge and techniques.
Faisal Salah Hayat said the visit provided him an opportunity to take some concrete anti-terrorism measures, in the light of the agreements already reached between the two countries.
He said he also availed the opportunity to remove certain apprehensions of the Chinese side about the security arrangements for the Chinese citizens in Pakistan. During the meeting, the Chinese officials spoke highly of Pakistan's role against terrorism, paying tributes to President Pervez Musharraf for his strong determination to end lawlessness.
They also conveyed President Hu Jintao's special greetings and good wishes to President Musharraf. He said he told the Chinese side that Pakistan government was giving a tough fight to terrorists, and the success ratio of their efforts to that effect was nearly 90 per cent.
The minister, who visited an anti-terrorism centre in Beijing, further said the Chinese government has set up the most modern counter-terrorism and public security system.
"We are going to implement a big security plan in Pakistan as well, particularly in the urban areas to improve the law and order situation," he said, adding, "In this connection, we will try to learn from the Chinese experience."
To a question, Faisal Saleh Hayat said he also discussed with his Chinese counterpart the areas of bilateral cooperation to check narcotics trafficking, illegal border trade and money-laundering, besides other trans-border crimes.
It was agreed during their talks that the two countries would continue to support each other for strengthening peace, security and development at the regional and international level.
The two sides also discussed the matters relating to the extradition treaty signed between the two governments last year. The minister said the two sides agreed that they could neutralize the threats posed by Al Qaeda and other extremist groups by enhancing cooperation between their respective law-enforcement agencies. -APP