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China, Pakistan cement friendships
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-08 08:07
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BEIJING - Holding the hands of his two daughters, visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday led them to his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
"They want very much to see you in person," he told his host, hoping the meeting would inspire the younger Pakistani generation to continue its "all-weather and time-tested" friendship with its Asian neighbor.
This is Zardari's fifth visit to China since taking office in 2008. In that time the two countries have reached more than 60 agreements as Beijing and Islamabad open more avenues for Chinese investment in Pakistan.
Earlier the same day, Zardari made clear that his country was looking to China to help shore up Pakistan's economy and expand an energy sector that has struggled to keep up with its growing population.
Zardari told Chinese business heads in Beijing that "Pakistan was facing an acute power shortage and intended to add tens of thousands of megawatts of power to its national grid in the next 25 years through combined hydro, coal, gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources", said the Associated Press of Pakistan, citing the Pakistani President's spokesman, Farhatullah Babar.
An executive of China's Three Gorges Corporation, which runs the huge hydro power dam in central China, announced Wednesday that it has agreed to invest more than $100 billion in two hydro-power projects in Pakistan.
During the meeting with Hu, Zardari reiterated that trade relations with China fell well short of their potential, having previously said that strengthening and enhancing cooperation with China in all sectors is one of the key principles guiding Pakistan's foreign policy.
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 President Hu Jintao greets his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, July 7, 2010. The two leaders expressed their commitment to deepen ties in energy, communications and infrastructure construction. Photo by [China Daily] |
Though no agreement on nuclear cooperation was inked on Wednesday, it is widely believed that the talks between the two presidents would firm up Beijing's commitment to expand the Chashma nuclear power complex in Punjab province of Pakistan despite concerns from Washington and New Delhi.
According to the China National Nuclear Corp., the governments of China and Pakistan in February signed an agreement to finance construction of two new reactors.
Pakistani ambassador to Beijing Masood Khan said the two countries have had several civil nuclear energy projects in the past and such cooperation will continue.
Beijing has said its current and future nuclear commerce would be in compliance with its commitments to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Indian National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, who left Beijing Tuesday after several days of meetings with Premier Wen Jiabao and other Chinese leaders, said he had discussed the sale of nuclear reactors to Pakistan with them.
"They told us that what they are doing will be in accordance with their international obligations. We will wait and see where this is going."
Ye Hailin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the decades-long Chashma project is legal and has nothing to do with other countries.
He said China has always been supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency and future nuclear cooperation with Pakistan will depend on demand.
"Our cooperation is not a show, not a demonstration. It is decided by our need," he said.
Zardari will attend a Sino-Pakistani business forum on Friday and then leave for Shanghai to visit the Pakistani National Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo.
Ai Yang and agencies contributed to the story.
