Chairman & CEO of Pakistan Observer and Vice Chairman of the Pak-China think tank
‘‘101 Friends of China’’ Mr Faisal Zahid Malik called on former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Staff Committee and Chairman of the 101 Friends of China Gen (R) Ehsan-ul-Haq at his office in Islamabad. PO photo by Sh Arif
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Staff Committee (CJCSC) and Chairman of the think tank, “101 Friends of China” General (R) Ehsan-ul-Haq has termed China as Pakistan’s strategic and most-trusted partner. The year 2023 sees the bilat-eral ties between the two countries growing stronger as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a flagship project of President Xi Jinping’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is marking its 10th anniversary.
In a meeting with Chairman and CEO of Pakistan Observer and Vice Chairman of the 101 Friends of China, Mr Faisal Zahid Malik who called on Gen-eral (R) Ehsan-ul-Haq, the former CJCSC said the significance of strong Pakistan-China relations has become all the more important in the emerging geo-political situation in the region.
Gen Ehsan who is Chairman of the 101 Friends of China, a think tank by Pakistan Observer’s founder Editor-in-Chief (E-in-C) Zahid Malik (late) to pro-mote the bilateral relations and counter propaganda, paid rich tributes to late Mr Malik calling him a visionary leader who realized the need to set up an important forum comprising thinkers, statesmen, former envoys of both China and Pakistan as mem-bers of the think tank.
He said the BRI had become an prominent interna-tional cooperation platform, generating substantial investments and creating job opportunities. “Under the joint efforts of Pakistan and China, CPEC will be further enhanced to elevate all-around coopera-tion to new heights,” he said. Mr Faisal Zahid Malik who is also the vice-chairman of the 101 Friends of China, complimented Gen Ehsan for championing the cause of the Pakistan-China friendship and vo-cally advocating stronger people-to-people (p-to-p) and government-to-government (g-to-g) coopera-tion.
Gen Ehsan-ul-Haq also spoke about the situation in the region as well as the world and strongly con-demned the recent attacks on the innocent Palestini-ans by the Israeli forces. The Muslim Ummah should stand united against Israel and the world powers must come forward and take cognizance of the unabated aggression by the Israeli forces, he said. He referred to the recent Israeli attack on Al-Ahly Al-Mamadany Hospital in Gaza causing a large number of civilian casualties. “Targeting a hospital, a sanctuary for those in need, is an inde-fensible act of inhumanity.
International humanitarian law gives protection to hospitals and medical personnel” he said, adding, the hospital strike claimed approximately 500 lives and was one of the deadliest single incidents in Gaza. Gen Ehsan demanded that Israel should be held accountable for “war crimes” and the UN, the European Union and other world forums must use their influence to prevent in future any such attack by the occupying Israeli forces.
