Pak, China launch information corridor

CPIC aims to connect people beyond infrastructure

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and China launched an information corridor on Tuesday aimed at deepening bilateral media cooperation, facilitating the exchange of verified news and strengthening people-to-people understanding between the two countries.

The China-Pakistan Information Corridor (CPIC) was launched at a ceremony in Islamabad attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning and others.

Addressing the ceremony, Tarar said the initiative would build on the longstanding relationship between Pakistan and China by extending cooperation beyond physical infrastructure to information sharing, digital platforms, research, business, culture and youth engagement.

"The corridor is intended to connect the minds of the people of the two countries, complementing the physical connectivity established through CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor)," Tarar said. "The first phase connected our lands; the next phase will connect our minds," he added.

The information minister described CPIC as a bridge between the peoples of the two countries. "The initiative rests on four pillars: media; business and enterprise; think tanks; and culture, tourism and youth," he explained.

Under the media pillar, he said, a news exchange working group comprising 18 Pakistani and Chinese media organisations, including state broadcasters and private television channels, was sharing verified news about bilateral cooperation.

"A dedicated fact-checking mechanism is also part of the initiative," Tarar said, adding that CPIC would use news exchanges, fact-checking mechanisms, trade portals, podcasts, social media channels and youth ambassadors to strengthen information sharing and public understanding.

Under the business and enterprise pillar, the initiative had opened its first regional office in Karachi and was developing a trade portal to track trade, investment and foreign direct investment, the minister said. A podcast series was also being developed to tell the stories of entrepreneurs in each other's countries.

The think-tank pillar, led by the Pakistan-China Institute and involving leading research institutions, would promote joint dialogue, research and publications with Chinese counterparts. The fourth pillar, covering culture, tourism and youth, was the heart of the corridor, Tarar said.

"Work is under way on a Xinjiang-Gilgit-Baltistan tourism corridor intended to extend the journeys of Chinese travellers into the valleys of northern Pakistan," he said. A friendship rally would also be held to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The minister invited Chinese media organisations, think tanks, universities, enterprises and youth ambassadors to participate as full partners in all four pillars. He described Pakistan-China friendship as distinctive, saying the term "Ba Tie" represented an iron-clad friendship. (WITH INPUTS FROM APP)