LAHORE - Former army chief Gen (r) Mirza Aslam Beg said the $45 billion agreements of Chinese investment in Pakistan’s various fields were the result of solid foundation of bilateral ties laid by the army some three decades ago.
Talking to The Nation on Wednesday, he said with the completion of the projects signed by the two countries during President Xi’s visit, Pakistan would enter a new era of development, after which its dependence on other countries would come to an end.
No power, he believed, would now be in a position to create any hurdle in these projects as the investment is coming from China –a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
He advised the authorities concerned to prepare a powerful implementation plan for the in time completion of all projects.
Citing an example of China’s support to Pakistan in the field of defence, the former army chief recalled, it was Beijing that had enabled Islamabad to evolve a strategy of offensive defence against India.
Now, he said, Pakistan faces no threat from its neighbouring nuclear rival.
He said during the Zia era, he had visited China as a representative of Pakistan with a long shopping list of defence equipment, for which only $600 million had been made available.
China, he said, supplied all items mentioned in the list and converted the excessive amount into a loan with only 2 per cent service charges.
China, he said, made it possible for Pakistan to attain 90 per cent indigenisation during the 90s.
“Such cooperation cannot be expected from any other country.
”
Beg said it was China that enabled Pakistan develop JF-17 Thunder planes and navy frigates.
The level of present cooperation, he said, was simply unbelievable.
The former army chief said that the situation today could have been different if the PML-N government had been overthrown as a result of the pressure mounted jointly by the PTI and the PAT last year.
He answered in the negative when asked if the growing cooperation between China and Pakistan could strain Pak-US ties.
He argued that China and the US had very strong trade ties and the latter would not let anything affect them at any cost.
According to him, the US was doing its best to contain China by forgoing alliance of various countries.
But, he said, China gave little importance to such plans.
In response to a question, he said Pakistan’s ties with US had always been one-sided and both Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf had pushed Pakistan into what was American war in Afghanistan.
But now, he believed, Pakistan’s relations with other countries would be more realistic.
Talking to The Nation on Wednesday, he said with the completion of the projects signed by the two countries during President Xi’s visit, Pakistan would enter a new era of development, after which its dependence on other countries would come to an end.
No power, he believed, would now be in a position to create any hurdle in these projects as the investment is coming from China –a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
He advised the authorities concerned to prepare a powerful implementation plan for the in time completion of all projects.
Citing an example of China’s support to Pakistan in the field of defence, the former army chief recalled, it was Beijing that had enabled Islamabad to evolve a strategy of offensive defence against India.
Now, he said, Pakistan faces no threat from its neighbouring nuclear rival.
He said during the Zia era, he had visited China as a representative of Pakistan with a long shopping list of defence equipment, for which only $600 million had been made available.
China, he said, supplied all items mentioned in the list and converted the excessive amount into a loan with only 2 per cent service charges.
China, he said, made it possible for Pakistan to attain 90 per cent indigenisation during the 90s.
“Such cooperation cannot be expected from any other country.
”
Beg said it was China that enabled Pakistan develop JF-17 Thunder planes and navy frigates.
The level of present cooperation, he said, was simply unbelievable.
The former army chief said that the situation today could have been different if the PML-N government had been overthrown as a result of the pressure mounted jointly by the PTI and the PAT last year.
He answered in the negative when asked if the growing cooperation between China and Pakistan could strain Pak-US ties.
He argued that China and the US had very strong trade ties and the latter would not let anything affect them at any cost.
According to him, the US was doing its best to contain China by forgoing alliance of various countries.
But, he said, China gave little importance to such plans.
In response to a question, he said Pakistan’s ties with US had always been one-sided and both Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf had pushed Pakistan into what was American war in Afghanistan.
But now, he believed, Pakistan’s relations with other countries would be more realistic.
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