ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that China would gift additional 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan for frontline health workers and senior citizens.
He stated this while talking to media after attending an event where Qureshi and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi formally commenced activities to celebrate 70 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China.
Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that, “we pay tribute to the Chinese leadership which has done an incredible job in changing the lives and destiny of its people. We believe that President Xi Jinping’s leadership, at a momentous history, has greatly helped Chinese nation achieve its national aspirations”. Foreign Minister added that, “successive generations of leaders and people of both Pakistan and China made invaluable contributions to strengthen these ties.”
The Foreign Minister also reaffirmed that the CPEC was set to become a High-Quality Demonstration Project of BRI.
At the ceremony, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi underlined that Pakistan-China friendship has a time-honored history and in the 7 decades the two countries have stood together in rain or shine, and built an exceptional, iron-clad friendship.
A logo was launched at the ceremony epitomizing historic nature of Pakistan-China ties. On the special occasion of the 70th anniversary, both sides have planned a series of events, including people-to-people exchanges, spread over the entire year to commemorate this historic milestone in a befitting manner.
To mark the historic occasion, both Foreign Ministers authored articles that were published today highlighting how the two countries have solidified and deepened their “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership” over seven decades, despite vicissitudes of times and changes in the international system.
Speaking on the occasion, China’s foreign minister said Pakistan had become the first country to receive vaccine and “this fully attests to the special, iron-strong friendship that we have”.
“The world today is undergoing profound changes and struggling against the pandemic, both of which are unseen for a century. The global economy has been plunged into deep recession. And all countries are taking a ‘tough test’,” Wang said.
