Pakistan-China Friendly Relations Are Deep Rooted

On the eve of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of Pakistan-China Diplomatic Relations， a special function was jointly organized in March by Radio China Listener’s Club， the Pakistan-China Friendship Association and Malik Saad Shaheed Sports Trust in Peshawar， Pakistan. A Chinese delegation headed by Ms. Wang Qianting， Bureau Chief for Pakistan of China Radio International (CRI)， Provincial Minister for Higher Education Qazi Muhammad Asad， Minister for Livestock and Cooperatives Haji Hidayatullah Khan， Secretary-General of the Pakistan-China Friendship Association (Khyber Chapter) and President of Radio China Listener’s Club Syed Ali Nawaz Gilani were present on the occasion.

Ms. Wang Qianting said the year 2011 was being officially declared by both China and Pakistan as the year of friendship and the function was part of the bilateral relation activity. A year-long celebrations of Pak-China 60 years of close relations would bring even closer the two peoples， and Sino-Pakistan cultural exchanges and development would also be beneficial for our ties.

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China were established in May 1951. Both countries are enjoying friendship at all levels and the most beautiful part of these relations are people to people interaction and twinning of various Pakistani cities with various Chinese cities which shows friendship at people to people level. Pakistan and China enjoy excellent political， cultural， educational， social and diplomatic relations.

In the last 60 years the two countries have developed a relation of trust and belief and both have great respect for each other. While celebrating 2011 as the year of friendship， both countries will hold a series of commemorative activities covering fields like politics， economy， culture， education， sports and etc.

Haji Hidayatullah Khan and Qazi Asad also spoke to the audience saying that Pak-China friendship was durable and time tested. They said that different functions in this regard should be arranged by government as well as private organizations， schools， colleges and universities to further strengthen our friendship. Warm welcome presented by the people of Pakistan to Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during his recent visit to Pakistan was an ample proof of our unbreakable ties.

Syed Ali Nawaz Gilani in his welcome address talked about Pakistan-China relations and the role of mass media in developing and strengthening the relationship. He mentioned the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign countries (CPAFFC) and its special relationship with Pakistani counterparts and positive effect on strengthening the relationship at people’s level. Peshawar and Abbottabad are sister cities with Urumqi and Kashgar， and the Province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa twinned friendship provinces with Xinjiang Autonomous Region in 2008. Mr. Gilani also mentioned the recently-held South Asian Friendship Forum in Sri Lanka which was attended by South Asian friendship associations with China and China’s CPAFFC delegation headed by Vice President Feng Zuoku.

The author is Secretary General of the Pakistan-China Friendship Association (Khyber Chapter) and President of Radio China Listener’s Club-Peshawar.