５５ Ｙｅａｒｓ ｏｆ Ｐａｋ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓ

“The bedrock of our bilateral bonds is a strong faith and trust in each other that we have nurtured with care and devotion”， President General Pervez Musharraf’s words reflect the importance of Pak-China relations which are commonly known as friendship higher than the Himalayas， deeper than the oceans and sweeter than honey， and this friendship is rooted in the ethos of our two peoples.

On 21st May 1951， the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China established official diplomatic relations.Major-General N. A. M. Raza was the first Pakistani Ambassador to China who served from 1951 to 1954 and with a second stint from 1962-1966. Similarly Mr. Han Nianlong was the first Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan who served here from 1951 to 1956.

The friendship of Pakistan and China is known as exemplary friendship throughout the world and no doubt both countries have attached great importance to this relationship. With the passage of time Pakistan and China have developed an exemplary state-to-state relationship on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China 55 years ago， Pakistan-China good-neighbourly and friendlyrelations， fosteredand promoted by the successive generations of leaders of both countries have not looked back and on constant forward march， and bilateral cooperation remains mutually beneficial.

The recent very successful visit of President General Pervez Musharraf to China from 19th to 23rdFebruary 2006 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart His Excellency President Hu Jintao was termed as historic and a milestone in the history of Pakistan and China relations which end with a positive note.The visit was official opening of the 55th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of Pakistan and China diplomatic relations， during which the President of Pakistan had wide ranging meetings with his Chinese counterparts.

Keeping in view the importance of the visit Mr. Wu Bangguo， chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， Mr. Wen Jiabao， premier of the State Council， and Mr. Jia Qinglin， chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference met President Pervez Musharraf.

During this visit President Pervez Musharraf was the chief guest at very special cultural and social event jointly organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Embassy of Pakistan for the celebration. These cultural performances were widely appreciated and this event helped in projecting positive cultural image of Pakistan not only in China but also among the large numbers of foreigners residing in Beijing. CPAFFC President Mr. Chen Haosu along with Chinese State Counsellor Mr. Tang Jiaxuan named that evening as friendship evening， and that event was later reported in the CPAFFC’s official bimonthly magazine Voice of Friendship. The CPAFFC and the Pak-China Friendship Association (PCFA) NWFP are enjoying excellent working relationship.This year PCFA NWFP’s 5-member delegation has been invited to visit China as a part of these celebrations.

During the visit President Pervez Musharraf also addressed the leading Chinese scholars at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences apart from meeting leading Chinese businessmen to explore more avenues for Chinese investment in Pakistan and to offer them more attractions in addition to those who are already getting here in Pakistan. During this third state visit of our President to China along with high profile delegation， views were exchanged in very friendly and cordial atmosphere in depth and both leaders reached broad common ground for strengthening Pakistan-China strategic partnership of cooperation and on international and regional issues of mutual interest.

China’s population of more than 1.3 billion is one-fifth of the world’s， having literacy rate of 90.9 %， thus leading not only Asia， but emerging as potential leading economic power of the world. The present day China has 472 international and national airports， road communication reaches more than 1，800，000 kms and railway track length is 71，000 kms.

China with its growth rate of 9.4 % has surprised the whole world with its GDP of US$2.2 trillion in 2005. The import and export volume between Pakistan and China is US$4.26 billion where as volume of China’s import from Pakistan is US$830 million and export to Pakistan is US$3.43 billion.The balance of trade between Pakistan and China is not very impressive and needs special attention for further positive development. The two sides are presently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and aim to push total

President Pervez Musharraf during his visit to China mentioned the Gwadar Port project on the Arabian Sea coast in the Pakistani province Balochistan through which crude oil imports from Iran and Africa can be transported to the northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region through land route and for this purpose feasibility study is being conducted which will be a shortcut compared with the one via the Straits of Malacca. China contributed about US$200 million for the construction of the port’s first phase which was completed last April when Honorable Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Pakistan and now during recent past high level contacts China reportedly also agreed to finance the second phase of the projectwhich will have nine more berths， an approach channel and storage terminals.

As this year is named as the 55th Anniversary of Pakistan and China’s Diplomatic Relations we call this year the 55th Anniversary of Friendship.The celebrations of this year were started with the visit of our President to China and with a signing of 13 memoranda of understanding in various sectors for further cooperation and understanding， which will go a long way in the history of both countries and consequently alternatively help the socio-economic development of Pakistan.

On this occasion we looked back on the very impressive activities and achievement of the most active organizations like the Pak-China Friendship Association (PCFA) NWFP which was established in 1970 by Qazi Shamsuddin and played a vital role in strengthening the relationship and people-to-people contacts since then. Peshawar---the capital city of North West Frontier Province of Pakistan was declared sister city with Urumqi---capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China in 1985， and last year (2005) the 20th anniversary of this twinning was celebrated and vice chairman of Xinjiang led a 7-member delegation to attend the celebrations. More recently in 2005 a major city of NWFP Abbottabadwas declared twin with historic city of Kashgar in May 2005 and now more twinnings are under consideration Abbottabad with Chinese cities.

More than 2，000 years ago， famous Chinese scholars including Xuan Zang and Fa Xian traveled to Taxila---a city located in the north of Islamabad， federal capital of Pakistan to study Buddhist scriptures as this city was renowned for the historical relics which are still a great tourist attraction. These itineraries are narrated in the famous Chinese novel Pilgrimage to the West. One of the important founders of Tibetan Buddhism Sambahava belonged to Swat Valley， an important city of NWFP in northern Pakistan. He also traveled to Tibet of China more than a thousand years ago.

Mr. Salman Bashir， the 17th Pakistani ambassador to China is playing a very important and vital role in developing and strengthening these relationships like his predecessor Mr. Riaz Muhammad Khan presently the foreign secretary of Pakistan.

To celebrate the 55th anniversary of Pak-China friendship the Government of NWFP also constituted a high powered committee under the chairmanship of NWFP Minister for LG RDD Sardar Muhammad Idress and having provincial secretaries and senior leaders of PCFA NWFP as their members to plan and celebrate the occasion in a befitting manner. Briefly， at this point of time the Government and people of Pakistan should learn the lesson from the practical experiences of their great friend China for their socio-economic development to strengthen themselves， which matters nowadays.

The writer is secretary-general of the Pak-China Friendship Association NWFP， Pakistan.