Pakistan lists strategic partnership with China as key foreign policy achievement

Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said on Thursday that the most important achievement for the government in the past three years was "undoubtedly the path breaking transformation in Pakistan's strategic partnership with China."

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assumed office in June 2013 after his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) won the parliamentary elections.

"The most visible manifestation of this transformation was the launch, in April 2015, of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) involving Chinese investment of 46 billion U.S. dollars in energy, infrastructure, communication projects and for developing the Gwadar Port (in Balochistan province)," Aziz told a news conference.

He said the CPEC's implementation will lay a solid foundation for enhanced regional trade, integration, connectivity and industrial investment, adding that China has already become Pakistan's largest trading partner with two way trade at 19 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.

He said Pakistan also succeeded in enhancing cooperation with Central Asian countries and three important projects with these nations have already been finalized, including CASA-1000, which would bring surplus electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and TAPI gas pipeline which would transmit natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. An Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is also being pursued.

"Air links with Central Asia are being restored and new road links will emerge with the completion of CPEC," Aziz said.

He said Pakistan's obtaining full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was another achievement in the past three years that is an important milestone for re-balancing Pakistan's place in the global arena.

On Afghanistan, he said Pakistan has been making sincere efforts to deepen its engagement with Afghanistan and address post 9/11 mistrust, by facilitating reconciliation talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

The adviser referred to the creation of a new mechanism, the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) during the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Islamabad in December 2015, describing it as a major step forward.

As for India, Aziz said there was some positive progress in December 2015 to revive the dialogue process with India when he and the Indian external affairs minister agreed to resume the Comprehensive Dialogue on all issues in a meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad in December.

"But before the Foreign Secretaries could meet and finalize a schedule for resuming the Comprehensive Dialogue," gunmen attacked the Indian airbase in Pathankot on Jan. 2 that gave India an "excuse" to postpone the resumption of the dialogue, he said.

"Pakistan believes that dialogue is the best way forward to resolve outstanding issues, including mutual concerns related to terrorism," Aziz said.

The adviser said Pakistan succeeded in resuming the Strategic Dialogue with United States in 2013, after the difficult phase in the relationship experienced during 2011-12.

With the European Union, Pakistan succeeded in winning the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) plus status in 2014, leading to significant growth in Pakistan's exports to the EU, he said.

Speaking about relations with Russia, Aziz said Prime Minister Sharif has paid particular attention to the consolidation and expansion of Pakistan's relations with Russia after his ground-breaking meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Ufa in July 2015. Agreement on the construction of North South Gas Pipeline in Pakistan with 2 billion U.S. dollars of Russian investment is a significant milestone.

Talking about the possible challenges, Aziz said the main focus in the coming two years would be on measures to consolidate the success achieved in eliminating terrorism and extremism through the implementation of a national plan that was launched after the 2014 deadliest terrorist attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.

"These gains will be consolidated to ensure that no armed militias are allowed to function in the country," the adviser said.

He said Pakistan will continue and intensify engagement with the United States at different levels to achieve their common objectives of durable peace in Afghanistan and sustainable stability in South Asia.

Pakistan will be hosting a South Asian summit in Islamabad in November this year, he said, adding that connectivity agreements among the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are under active consideration.

SAARC groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Endit