ISLAMABAD; JUNE 18, (DNA) – President Dr. Arif Alvi has conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) upon General Han Weiguo Commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force of China, in a special investiture ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad on Tuesday. Later General Han Weiguo also called on the President.

On the occasion, the President Dr. Arif Alvi congratulated General Han Weiguo and reiterated Pakistan strong resolve to take the bilateral relations between the two countries to new heights in all fields.

He said that Pakistan and China enjoyed a unique all-weather and time-tested friendship and Pakistan considered China as its “Iron Brother”.

While highlighting Pakistan-China friendship, an important cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, the President stated that Defence and economic relations between the two counties were vital for maintaining peace and stability in region.

He highlighted the importance of digital economy and cyber security in today’s world and underscored the need for close cooperation between the two brotherly countries to ward off challenges emerging in cyber space.

The President further said that Defence and strategic cooperation was the backbone of strategic cooperative partnership and defence authorities of the both countries had maintained close coordination.

Frequent high-level exchange of military delegations is a key aspect of our cooperation in this regard, he added.

He also underlined the need to further enhance counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries.

Pakistan and China are joined together in a broad-based, long-term “All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”.

Pakistan-China Treaty for Friendship and Cooperation and Good Neighborly Relations has further contributed to the deepening of this relationship. The two sides have a multi-faceted bi-lateral cooperation in diverse fields such as economic, political, strategic and cultural areas and often share similar views on global issues.

The President also said that Pakistan deeply values China’s support on issues of its national security and territorial integrity including Kashmir.

He re-assured that Pakistan strongly adheres to the “One China Policy”. He expressed satisfaction over progress of all ongoing projects initiated under CPEC.

With the completion of early harvest projects, CPEC has entered its second phase, in which focus is on socio-economic cooperation, agriculture development, poverty alleviation and industrial cooperation, he added.

He underscored that the safety and security of Chinese nationals is Pakistan’s top priority.

He highlighted that Government of Pakistan has instituted multi-layer security arrangements with civil and military security agencies and involvement of provincial and federal governments for the safety of Chinese nationals.

General Han Weiguo Commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force of China thanked the President upon awarding him the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military).=DNA

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