Pakistan, China Sign Agreements

Rana Jawad, Agence France Presse

ISLAMABAD, 6 April 2005 — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz yesterday as the close allies signed a raft of military, economic and trade agreements, officials said.

Wen is making his maiden South Asian tour as premier, a weeklong swing through the strategically and economically important region that will also include trips to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Local residents banging drums and waving Pakistani and Chinese flags lined Islamabad’s main boulevard and the city was decked with banners welcoming Wen, who landed at Chaklala air base near the capital just before 6 p.m. (1300 GMT).

Officials said a total of 20 agreements were signed in the presence of Wen, who assumed office in March last year, and Aziz.

“The two leaders held formal talks in a cordial atmosphere at the prime minister house,” a Pakistani official said after the meeting. “Later the two prime ministers signed agreements in various fields including defense, combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, agriculture and tourism,” the official added. Wen, accompanied by a delegation of 70 Chinese officials and businessmen on his trip, will meet President Pervez Musharraf today.

China has long been Pakistan’s strongest ally and provides its neighbor with both development funding and weapons.

Pakistan has helped Beijing combat separatism in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang, while Islamabad is itself engaged in a drawn-out hunt for Al-Qaeda militants.

Musharraf yesterday launched the production in Pakistan of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets that have been jointly developed by the two countries.

“The friendship between Pakistan and China is deeper than the ocean and higher than mountains and we will continue to maintain this friendship,” he told air force officers at the Aeronuatical Complex at Kamra near the capital. Musharraf said the homegrown jets would become the mainstay of Pakistan’s Air Force, alongside F-16s that Washington announced it would sell to Islamabad last month.

On the eve of Wen’s visit, Islamabad said it would buy four Chinese-built frigates for the Pakistan Navy. The agreements signed yesterday also included deepening the Chinese-funded, multi-million-dollar seaport at Gwadar on the Arabian Sea in southwest Pakistan.

He will deliver a keynote address to a 26-member forum of ministers from Asian and Middle Eastern countries to take place today and tomorrow in Islamabad.

Aziz and Wen will address a business forum in Islamabad attended by 400 Pakistani and over 100 Chinese businessmen, whom officials said were interested in investing in IT and telecoms, mining, oil and gas, engineering and agriculture. China is also looking to Pakistan as a transit route for oil from the Gulf.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=...d=6&m=4&y=2005


--------------------

Prime Minister Wen accorded warm welcome


Pakistan, China sign friendship treaty

21 other pacts and MoUs also inked

By Mariana Baabar

ISLAMABAD: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was given a "people’s" welcome when he arrived here on a three-day visit, his first to Pakistan since assuming office.

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz set aside protocol to personally reach the PAF air base Chaklala to welcome his counterpart. The road leading from Chaklala to the Prime Minister House wore a festive look as women, men and children lined the route to catch a glimpse of the Chinese premier’s motorcade. In the recent past, one cannot remember such a warm and colourful welcome for a foreign dignitary, with the full participation of common Pakistanis.

"We have been waiting for quite sometime and hoping to get a glimpse of the Chinese premier. China is our best friend and we love the Chinese", were the views of one family, ready to shower rose petals. In fact, it was raining rose petals, as the front windscreen of the limousine carrying Wen Jiabao, was completely covered in pink, with the driver constrained to use his wipers for visibility.

A large number of Chinese nationals were seen at Chaklala air base, carrying red and green flags. A Chinese lady presented a bouquet to Wen Jiabao. So excited were these Chinese nationals that they had to be restrained by tall and imposing security guards as they stood between them and the Chinese premier’s limousine.

Earlier as he alighted from his special plane, the visiting Chinese dignitary was accorded a 19-gun salute, while a contingent of the PAF presented a guard of honour. An official welcome ceremony was held at the Prime Minister’s House, where Pakistan’s civil and military dignitaries were introduced to the visiting premier. Wen introduced the members of his delegation to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

The close ties between Beijing and Islamabad were reflected in the hour-long one-on-one talks between the two premiers. This was followed by delegation-level official talks. The wide-ranging talks focused on strengthening ties in economic, defence and diplomatic fields.

Significantly, the two premiers themselves signed, what is being billed as a "landmark treaty" in friendship, cooperation and good neighbourly relations between Pakistan and China. In a brief talk with the media, the Chinese premier described the signing of the friendship treaty as a major development. "This treaty and other agreements that we have signed today mark a new stage in Sino-Pak friendship and it would institutionalise the spirit of friendship of the last 54 years", commented the Chinese dignitary.

Wen Jiabao said the leadership of the two countries held very productive talks and reached broad consensus on bilateral relations, regional issues and a host of international issues. When asked about future economic relations, the Chinese premier said there is huge potential to further deepen the economic cooperation between the two countries. He said, "We have already concluded the feasibility study of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and begun negotiations in this regard". Touched by the warm welcome accorded to him, the Chinese premier said this was reflective of the strong and close bonds between the two countries.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also made a few remarks saying that Pakistan and China have identical views on major world issues. "We have a shared approach and values and are committed to peace in the region and the world. The most significant agreement signed today is treaty of friendship and cooperation, which will broaden our relationship and institutionalise it. This treaty is unique in the sense that the two countries have no such treaty with any other country. It would serve as a turning point in the already strong relationship between the two countries", said Shaukat Aziz.

Responding to a question, the prime minister said the two countries are encouraging the private sector to invest in each other’s country. Aziz said they have agreed to encourage the flow of goods from Western China through Pakistani ports of Karachi and Gwadar to Middle East and beyond. He said Pakistan could serve as a transport and energy corridor to and from China as several Chinese companies are winning contracts in Pakistan because of the quality and competitiveness.

Earlier, Pakistani ministers, high officials and their Chinese counterparts signed and exchanged 21 agreements and MoUs on cooperation in economic, defence, energy, infrastructure, social sector, health, education, higher education, housing and other areas.

These include treaty on friendship, cooperation and good neighbourly relations, agreement on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, executive programme on educational cooperation and exchanges, framework agreement on naval frigates, early harvest agreement on Pakistan-China Free Trade Area, protocol on quarantine certification of rice, MoU on cooperation in agriculture, protocol on quarantine certification of citrus, agreement to export live animals to Middle East and other destinations through Pakistan, Pakistan-China IT agreement, MoU between High Education Commission and Chinese Scholarship Council, agreement on economic and technical cooperation, agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters, implementation rules of agreements between Pakistan and China concerning international road transport, cooperation between Export Promotion Bureau and Chinese Council for Promotion of International Trade, MoU on teaching of Chinese at NUML, MoU on FTA and other trade issues, MoU on strengthening of corporate entities of the two countries in manufacturing sector, agreement for development Duddar lead zinc deposits in Balochistan and exchange of letters for study of Pakistan-China friendship Centre project.

The two countries also agreed on financing an arrangement of $350 million for Chashma-II nuclear power project. Under an agreement, a Chinese company would construct 1200 low-cost housing units at a cost of $85 million. Later Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz hosted a banquet in honour of his Chinese counterpart. The Chinese premier is scheduled to meet President Gen Pervez Musharraf today.

APP adds: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz hosted a banquet in honour of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Prime Minister House. The banquet was attended by members of Chinese delegation, President Pakistan Muslim League Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, members of the federal cabinet, high officials and diplomats.

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2005-d...main/main1.htm


--------------------

Pak, China ink 20 agreements, MOUs

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan as well China have signed twenty Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) and agreements here on Tuesday. Pakistan side was represented by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz while Wen Jiabao, Chinese Premier led Chinese side.

The MoU and Agreements which were singed between the two countries included Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborly relations, Agreement on Combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, Executive programme and education, cooperation and exchange, Framework agreement for Naval Frigates F22P, Early harvest agreement of Pakistan China Free Trade Area, Protocol on Quarantine Certification of rise, MOU on cooperation in the field of protocol on Quarantine Certification Citrus, agreement on export of Live Animal to the Middle East on other destination through Pakistan, Pakistan IT China Agreement, MOU between the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and China Scholarship Council on Pakistan government funded student education programme in China, Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation (RMB 50 million grant assistance), Agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in custom matters, Implementation rules of the agreement between Pakistan and China concerning international road transport, Cooperation between export promotion, Bureau (EPB) and its counterpart China Council for the promotion of international trade (CCPIT), MOU on Confucius Institute between National Office for teaching Chinese as a foreign language (NOTCFL) and NUML, MOU on FIA and other trading issue, MOU on strengthen of corporate entities of the two countries in manufacturing sector, Addendum No. 1 to the agreement for development of Duddar Lead-Zinc deposits in Balochistan for change of performing party, Exchange of letters for study of Pakistan-China friendship center project.


onlinenews


--------------------