President confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz (M) upon General Han Weiguo

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Tuesday conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) upon General Han Weiguo, Commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force of China, in a special investiture ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.On the occasion, 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.

Later, General Han Weiguo also called on the president, said an official statement.

The president said 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 said defence and economic relations between the two counties were vital for maintaining peace and stability in the 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 field.

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. He said frequent high-level exchange of military delegations was a key aspect of our cooperation in this regard. He also underlined the need to further enhance counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries.

The president said that Pakistan deeply valued China’s support on issues of its national security and territorial integrity including Kashmir. He reassured that Pakistan strongly adhered to the ‘One China Policy’ and expressed satisfaction over progress of all the ongoing projects initiated under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He highlighted that Government of Pakistan had instituted multi-layer security arrangements with the civil and military security agencies and involvement of provincial and federal governments for the safety of Chinese nationals.

General Han Weiguo thanked the president for awarding him the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military).

Meanwhile, General Han Weiguo called on Prime Minister Imran Khan here.

Imran Khan said that close Pakistan-China cooperation was a factor of peace and stability in the region. The prime minister congratulated General Han Weiguo on the conferment of the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military). He underlined the importance of mutual support by China and Pakistan to each other on their respective issues of core interest.

He also underlined that close Pakistan-China cooperation was a factor of peace and stability in the region and expressed appreciation for China’s support for Pakistan’s role on international and regional issues.

The prime minister recalled his wide-ranging exchange of views with President Xi Jinping in their two recent meetings in Beijing in April 2019 and Bishkek in June 2019. The prime minister underscored that CPEC was a flagship project of President Xi’s visionary Belt and Road Initiative and added that Pakistan looked forward to also deepening cooperation in socio-economic development between the two countries in Phase-II of CPEC.

General Han Weiguo thanked the prime minister for receiving him and stated that the conferment of the award was an honour for him. He lauded Pakistan’s successful efforts against terrorism and steps to promote regional peace and stability.