China to gift 0.5m more Covid vaccine doses to Pakistan

Both countries would tackle the coronavirus pandemic together, says FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday announced that China would send 500,000 more doses of coronavirus vaccine for Pakistan’s frontline workers and senior citizens.

Talking to the media after the launch of celebrations of the establishment of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations along with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, he said that China had already gifted 500,000 doses of vaccine Sinopharm to the Pakistani nation for its frontline health workers.

"Both the countries would tackle the coronavirus pandemic together," he emphasised.

FM Qureshi said that ties between Islamabad and Beijing has deepened further. "The two countries would hold a series of events to celebrate the establishment of diplomatic relations."

At the event, a logo was also launched to mark the start of celebrations.

Thanking the Chinese government and his counterpart, Qureshi said the two countries are determined to move forward together as their bilateral relations are based on mutual trust.

Earlier today, Pakistan and China commenced the year-long celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

The two capitals – Islamabad and Beijing — witnessed the launch of a series of events at a virtual ceremony simultaneously held at the respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

During the event, FM Qureshi emphasised that successive generations of leaders and people of both countries had made invaluable contributions to strengthen the ties.

He also expressed confidence that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would become a high-quality demonstration project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

He paid tribute to the Chinese leadership for the “incredible job in changing the lives and destiny of its people, saying that President Xi Jinping had greatly helped the Chinese nation achieve its national aspirations.

Wang Yi underlined that the Pakistan-China friendship had a time-honoured history as the two countries “stood together in rain or shine, and built an exceptional, iron-clad friendship”.

To mark the historic occasion, both foreign ministers authored articles that were published today highlighting how the two countries had solidified and deepened their “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership” over seven decades, despite vicissitudes of times in the international system.

CPEC Authority Chairman Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, China’s ambassador Nong Rong and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood also attended the event.