Brotherly neighbours: Accord signed for Pakistani doctors training in China

Shahbaz says China has provided Pakistan with greatest development package.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that China was a long-standing friend of Pakistan and had always helped it overcome the challenges confronting it.

He praised the Chinese leadership for their unwavering cooperation and commitment to Pakistan. Sharif was speaking during a signing ceremony held in Beijing. The chief minister was the chief guest on the occasion. Under the agreement, Pakistani doctors and medical staff would be trained at hospitals across China. He said developmental projects underway in Pakistan under his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had the support of the Chinese government. Sharif said the Chinese wanted to see Pakistan develop and progress smoothly. He said China had given Pakistan the greatest developmental package in its history. The chief minister said the government would rise to Chinese expectations despite national and international challenges. Sharif said Pakistan would develop under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and realise its goals through integrity and hard work.

Chinese Foundation for Cultural Heritage chairperson Geng Ying said China would bear travel and accommodation expenses of the Pakistani trainees under the agreement for three years. She said they would be taught conventional medicine and acupuncture. Sharif thanked the Chinese government for its assistance and said the initiative would advance public healthcare in the Punjab. He said the agreement epitomised the level of friendship that had become the hallmark of the bilateral relations of Pakistan and China. Sharif said the government had been striving to provide public with quality healthcare in the Punjab. He said the government had devoted billions of rupees towards this. Sharif said the agreement would cement advances in providing public with quality healthcare in the Punjab.

The chief minister had arrived in Beijing on Tuesday. Sharif was accorded a warm reception by the Chinese government on his arrival. He will be meeting several Chinese government functionaries during the visit. The chief minister will hold several rounds of talks with Chinese representatives to extend the scope of bilateral cooperation in transport, infrastructure and energy. Sharif will also attend a meeting of the Pakistan-China joint commission during the visit. The chief minister has been visiting China as part of a delegation being led by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal. Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik is also part of the delegation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2014.