‘Rising China source of strength in South Asia’

Hussain says those who talk of the China threat are enemies of peace.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed has said that Pakistan always welcomed the peaceful rise of China since it is a source of strength and security for small countries in Asia.

He said that now with regional economic cooperation, a “greater South Asia” was emerging which also included China, Myanmar, Iran and Afghanistan.

He expressed these views while talking to a four-member delegation of the Gansu Association for International Friendly Contact (GAIFC), led by its Vice President Liu Guangjun, here at the Pakistan-China Institute on Friday

Hussain said that a stronger and multifaceted partnership to further promote people-to-people contacts would be a force multiplier for Pakistan-China relations.

“Those who talk of the China threat or containment of China are enemies of peace in Asia”, he said adding that such thinking would spark a new cold war in Asia.

He also briefed the visiting delegation about a trilateral conference that will be jointly organised by China’s Xinhua news agency and the Pakistan-China Institute in June in Hong Kong to discuss the emerging new scenario in Afghanistan and the region.

Liu Guangjun appreciated the candid approach of Hussain about regional issues and said that he has visited Pakistan for many times and has made his own contributions to strengthen Pak-China friendship.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.