Pakistan our only all-weather friend: China
“China categorically supports Pakistan‘s efforts to uphold its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” said visiting Chinese Vice Prime Minister Meng Jianzhu at a meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Meng went on to say that Pakistan was the only state with whom China enjoyed an “all-weather friendship.”
The PM responded to Meng’s resounding endorsements with equally grand words. “Your friends are our friends, your enemies are our enemies and your security is our security,” he told the visiting leader.
According to a statement from the PM’s media office, Gilani particularly mentioned close ties between China and Pakistan in the fields of terrorism, intelligence sharing and anti-narcotics. During Meng’s visit, China provided over Rs110 million in aid for law enforcement agencies in Pakistan.
“We will cooperate with you to the extent you want us to cooperate,” Gilani told Meng, who also held meetings with Pakistan’s top military and intelligence leaders during his two-day visit. Meng called on the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and senior army officers at GHQ on Monday evening, accompanied by a delegation of high ranking Chinese officials.
Meng, a prominent leader in the Chinese State Council, arrived in Islamabad on Monday at a time when relations between Pakistan and the US had plunged into deeper uncertainty and distrust over the Haqqani network.
Experts said the Chinese were willing to support Pakistan in its efforts to counter pressure by the US but wanted Islamabad to defuse tensions with Washington, at least for now.
Meng stated that the Chinese foreign ministry would soon issue an official statement of solidarity with Pakistan in its right to sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
During Meng’s visit, the two sides signed $250 million in economic and technical agreements, according to the office of President Zardari.
(With additional INPUT from WIRES.)
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011.
COMMENTS (60)
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International relations are based on the phenomenon of "self-interest." We must improve relations with our neighbours whether it will be china or india because having good relations with these states are benificial for our glorious future. The integrity of our sovereignty is related to the relations of our nieghbours. So, forget the past and shake hands of good relations with our surrounding states.
China,North Korea,Sudan,Pakistan,Myanamar.... Welcome to the latest 'League of Nations' a paradise for dissenting voices.
@omg
Pakistan is out of India, right?...it was ruled by the Guptas, So did Mauryans, Palas and Cholas...
@ishu Mughals ruled an “undivided India”, so did Guptas. Mughals came from central asia. they captured south asia. did thousand year guptas (your apple of eye) ruled outside their india?
@omg
LOL...seriously, is that the result of those notorious "Pakistani school textbooks"?
1) Mughals ruled an "undivided India", so did Guptas (including Punjab, Sindh and Bengal), Mauryans (first two kings were Hindus and later converted to Buddhism, another INDIAN religion), Palas (a multi faith Indian Empire) and Christian Britishers...
2) You asked, "did any hindu ruler ever ruled outside the territory of Hindustan?"
The answer is Yes, Mauryas, Palas, Guptas....and please, please read about Cholas
Hinduism and Buddhism are Indian religion and are an integral part of Indian culture, they are to India, what Shintoism is to Japan and Confucianism is to China...we in India do not differentiate between the two...most ancient temples in India are multi faith Hindu-Buddhist temples.
3) You also said that
"Pakistan rule the divided india (west) Bang rule the divided india (east) Still Muslims rule the parts of undivided india.. Not you. Okay?"
lol are u kiddin me? Are you saying that you are all Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, just coz they are muslims, are immigrants from Arabia or Khorasan?...if not, then aren't you people ruling on YOUR OWN LAND?
Just like you said, Islam is neither a Country nor an exclusive culture, its a religion, I bet u will even say that Indonesians and Somalians are Pakistanis, just co they are muslims:))
@lollypop, @G.Din @Barrsstack, @Ishant 1) Being the oldest religion and civilization, what hindus hav ruled and gave to world anything big or universal or worth mentioning? Except Gupta's who had ruled a province of far east, did any hindu ruler ever ruled outside the territory of Hindustan? any country in Europe? Arab? Central or North Asia? can they?
2) Mughals rule undivided india, Pakistan rule the divided india (west) Bang rule the divided india (east) Still Muslims rule the parts of undivided india.. Not you. Okay?
3) Islam is not based on nationalisation, every muslim is muslim either from any country, any tribe or any ethnicity. Chrisitian world is based on ethnicity like germans, frrenchs. So there is no comparison. The world calls us "Muslim World" there is nothing like "Christian World" or "Hindu world". We hav our own way of life. We are all same. We do not hav castes. A turk, arab, mughal, persian is in your eye, but not in our eye.
He He! Two things to note.
China didn't say we are Pakistan's all weather friends!
So, far China's weather has been good for Pakistan, and it was a great freind of USA when the weather was good with USA too. Let's see how it fares, when weather in China isn't so good for Pakistan.
boo !!!
@DesiOnTheLoose: !wrong.not 3 dollors per hr. Last weeek only indian govt. Has declared any one earning rs.29 per day ( 0.5 dollors) as above poverty line.
Dont forget ee faced similar proelelms in 80s n 90s ans sang hymns in praise of USSR.
@Freeman: your delusion is phenomenal!!! Forget about the daily disappearances in Baluchistan, the world still hasn't accounted for the 3 million butchered in Bangladesh. You should thank India that it pardoned the 90,000 Pakistani war criminals.. in '71
We are giving in this illusion of China being our all-weather friend. China has much better relations with India than with Pakistan. Just imagine that China trade with India is $60 BILLION! where with Pakistan is just mere $2.5bn. The US-China-India triangle is dominating the world. I guarantee you that China will support India's bid for permanent seat at the UN.
Pakistan relation with China has been so low that China blamed that the terrorists responsible for the riots in their Xinjiang province have been trained in Pakistan. This hurt our President so much that he offered his Eid prayer in Kashgar. China cannot help us with neither trade, aid or military support. Pakistan has been increasingly isolated nowadays and we have no true friends in the world today.
lol....some loser above has written that " the US is your(India's) daddy"...hahahaha...dude your 64 yr old Pakistan has always been a baby of US, had it been not for US assistance in 80's there would have been no nukes for Pakistan, no F-16s, no cruise missiles, nothing...India has an equal relation with US, India doesn't go around the world saying "your enemy is our enemy and vice versa)...India selects its own friends and enemies, we do 100's of billions of dollars worth of trade with US, EU and your fraaand China, we don't take aid from them:-)))
@lollypop We know who has ruled on Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India for centuries...Turks and Mughals
@msn dude, why will it be a "pain" for us, China and Pak have been fraaands since 1947(before that there was no Pakistan).
@Freeman: Without PAK, China could not have entered world market. So China owes a big deal to PAK.
Now I understand the PAK egomaniacal mind!
@Arindom: Grow up and Check history. Pakistan and China are not new friends. Pakistan introduced China to the world and opened its doors for china to contact the world and do business. Pakistan made china and America close to each other. China is now givng back to Pakistan and appreciating Pakistan's help. This is what is called True friendship. A friend in need is a friend indeed - True.
China is not a bully country on the other hand America is a bully country towards poor countries.
Indian toops has killed 100,000 yong Kashmiri people and also raped and tortured 80 women in Kashmir in last 22 years.
Curious case of benefactor praising the beggar!
After making Haqqani Network its strategic asset, Pakistan has now successfully settled as China's strategic asset!!! Wow!
also, Russia is moving its influence from India to China and Central Asia, it will make him an ally of Pakistan or atleast neutral. But no more the enemy. They cannot like to see facing Chinese.
So many trolls! I wonder why can anyone not understand the sudden arrival of Meng in Pakistan while intense statements were being passed by White House leadership. The statements and arrival, additionally Hina rabbani's talks surely meant to deliver a message to White House leadership.
@DesiOnthe loose "If you owe a bank thousands, you have a problem; owe a bank millions, the bank has a problem"
US owes China trillions, that's even more reason China would not US to lose any wars and default on its debt. That situation is definitely not in Pakistan's favor. How many chinese ships are docked at Gwadar?? Pakistan keeps talking about its potential but when will it start delivering on its potential? Stop begging and start earning. $3 and hour makes it 70,500 Pakistani rupees per month taking 9 working hours per day, I guess that is a lot more money than the average Pakistani earns, so start respecting it
If india solved the kashmir then nothing left to fight on we pakistani will gonna say jai hind?
To all my Indians Neighbors to the East...Lets not forget that the US uses you for cheap labor, and yet they are still trillions in debt they OWE to China. In other words, the US is your daddy if thats how you want to compare Sino-Pak relationships. If you want to talk economy, India will do everything it can to stop Pakistan's goals. Take Gwader port for an example, Why are Indians/Americans so against the project? They know it will be the biggest, tax-free, warm water sea port in the world. Yet they sit and make the "terrorist" excuses. India is no great superpower, you still have beggars, slumps, racial tensions. Working on $3/hr wage is nothing nowadays.
@lollypop: That was history my dear brother. My advise is, see if you can rule over even ur own truncated country (minus Bangladesh) now ? Let me see how many of ur co country men support you on this. Stop dreaming and start living in the present.
@Aristo: 24 karat gold. But what you ask for requires painful changes in the state machinery, the first one being army relinquishing charge to civilians in every facet of state business. Don't see that happening any time soon.
The Chinese are one nation that is famous for planning years ahead. Its leadership decided decades ago that there were only two billion people countries in Asia and one day, it was only natural, that they would rival each other for regional dominance.
Helping Pakistan, while it has suited us, has served long term Chinese interests. There is no friendship when it comes to nations, only permanent interests.
How foolish to sharpen knife against US and think China is all weather friend. Well time will tell. US still has more to offer be it money, influence in world, their democratic and educational institutions. And Indian trolls coming here.. i mean seriously.. which world these people live in.. 1860s. Grow up!!
Dont start the celebrations so soon, wait till the weather goes bad and real face of China would emerge.
Now Pakistan will be flooded with cheap mobile phones with 4 sim cards and a powerful torch. And comes with a 20-day warranty.
You might particularly need that torch feature in the coming days !
A state run Chinese web site yesterday published an article, Asian powers start key dialogue http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2011-09/27/content_13798171.htm
The above article is about China and India cooperation on various fronts.
So, all Pakistanis, don't live in fools paradise come to reality. China is expert on treat the states on their merit and for their own stake.
There we go lord-ling pronounced. Pakistanis reply saying your security is our security and we are happy to serve. Why can't for once Pakistan seek a 'Partner' relationship rather than a 'Master-Servant' relationship?
Oh dear! We live in strange times. I am following the latest conflict (b/w Pak & US) with great interest. We all know who's gonna win, but I am curious to know how ridiculus can the things turn. Currently, neither US nor Pakistan is budging down. If things go down as they are currently and the war-mongers (Republicans) get to power in US, they'll fullfill what the Democrats are now threatening with Pakistan. You are counting on China against US! God help you. China is a shrewd country. They don't do anything until it is really beneficial to them. Remember, they refused to help Italy recently.
@msn: "Indians must be undergoing intense pain"
Indians have known about the collaboration between China and Pakistan for a long time now. However, it is quite amusing to know that this collaboration now is against US, not India. India has hardly any stake in this one. So your statement defies logic.
strange to see almost all comments are from indians on a pakistani local website - what entices that? i've seen many indian blogs in past begging china for a friendship chanting the same slogan 'what pakistan can give china in return?' 'indians can return china with business blah blah' . funny part is that china don't seem to agree with indian philosphy and it propagates 'all weather friend' slogan quite frequently. A soon-to-be-sole-super-power is certainly wiser than their bragging neighbour in seeing 'something' that pakistan can give to china which can't be given by indian.
Wise would understand and fools would argue.
Did I read that correctly - "China provided over Rs110 million in aid for law enforcement agencies in Pakistan". US was giving Pakistan $3Billion annually in AID and Pakistan's all-weather friend comes up with $1.26Million? Some friend!!!
@ripu: Sunshine, business is business... and Chinese are reliable suppliers!
Indians especially in north of baharat have problem in forgetting that who ruled them for several hundred years lives across the border. Same is the problem with Pakistanis
.....china is happy that ..they can capture the ramain market from USA to sell Arms to Pakistan........for china....pakistan is a market nothing else........
I think what China meant to say was "Pakistan is our all-weather lackey".
No matter what happens, Pakistan will keep pleasing China and China will be giving some goodies in return.
I think that's what the statement meant. Because friendships are usually between the equals. Or at least on equal terms. Do you people see that here?!!!
"Pakistan our only all-weather friend": China - with the expense of your economy :D
@Arindom: Son, How many times are you going to repeat yourself? get on a blog and make it your signatures. China practically own the US .ask me how! If you me , they are the sharpest tool in the shed.really think about it. Do you realize that had it not been for China, our savings would ve been 50% less than what they are now as we would not have been able to buy inexpensive ( not cheap items? I see more Indians in the 1 Dollar store than any other ethnic group so ask your own! Now , switch the koolaid!
China-Pakistan friendship is 63 years old. Other countries joined latter. Even Pakistan was instrumental in establishing diplomatic relationship between China and US. We Pakisanis did not forget that China used her VETO in favor of Pakistan when the country had been under immense pressures.
All beware !!! Nobody touches Pakistan otherwise China .......
I wonder if Pak is china's only all weather friend,then what about N Korea,Iran ,Burma and Chili ??
Let the troll fest from across the border begin.....