Mushahid lauds landmark PM's visit to China, proposes formation of special industrial security force to protect Chinese projects and personnel

Date : July 10, 2013

Islamabad, July 9, 2013: The Chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed has termed the two visits of the Prime Ministers of China and Pakistan to each other countries within a span of 6 weeks, as “visits with a difference” since they gave a “concrete follow up within a stipulated time-frame  and an “institutional mechanism” for speedy implementation.

He was speaking at a Round Table organized by the Pakistan-China Institute which was participated by representatives of think tanks like the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS), the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) and the Institute of Regional Studies ((IRS) as well as scholars and media.

Senator Mushahid Hussain said that the significance of these visits is that Pakistan’s economic revival, revolution of energy crisis and strengthening the federation through linkage process of road and rail infrastructure as well as prosperity of the people of Pakistan in the short and medium term have been linked to our strategic partnership with China.

Similarly, he said China too has developed an institutional stake in the stability, security and progress of Pakistan by generously providing all opportunities for development.  He said that the new Chinese leadership has reaffirmed that Pakistan remains “the highest priority in the China’s foreign policy” and this was also a way of appreciation for “Pakistan’s long term staunch support on issues concerning China’s core interests”.

Senator Mushahid Hussain identified these “core interests” as China’s territorial unity and integrity and border issues, viewing China peaceful rise of source and strength and stability for Asia and the region supporting the role of the Communist Party of China as a leading political force which promotes stability in the Chinese society, as well as issues like Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.  He termed it an important formulation by the Pakistan Prime Minister during his China visit while endorsing the Chinese stand on Xinjiang.

However, in his presentation, Senator Mushahid Hussain said that the successful follow up to these landmark visits between the Prime Ministers of China depends on Pakistan taking 3 decisive steps in a speedy manner.  First, he said that China complaints regarding Pakistan’s failure to implement decisions and MOUs as well as bureaucratic red tap blocking projects like Nandipur and Thar Coal have to be redressed.  Second, the safety and security of 15000 Chinese personnel, experts and engineers and technicians working in over 120 different projects has to be paramount, with the government responsible for preventing any recurrence of kidnapping or incidents of killing of Chinese citizens.

Finally, Senator Mushahid Hussain said one of the main pre-requisites for strengthening and broadening Pakistan-China strategic partnership is to ensure a somewhat stable and peaceful environment in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan which are two pivotal points of Pakistan-China economic corridor. To resolve this issue of safety and security, Senator Mushahid Hussain proposed a special industrial security force dedicated to protection, security and safety of Chinese projects and personnel in Pakistan.  This federal force should be highly trained so that Pakistan-China cooperation can proceed smoothly without any hurdles.

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