Pakistan "unapologetically close" to China in strategic ties, says Minister Khar

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 31 : Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday said that the country was "unapologetically close" to China in a strategic partnership which was growing.
While speaking at an event on the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China hosted by the Pakistan-China Institute, Khar emphasised Islamabad's close strategic ties with Beijing and recalled the political consensus in the country on the relationship.
She said that there was a broad consensus across the political divide that China was the cornerstone of the country's foreign policy. This emphasis on ties with China, she said, was given by former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and no subsequent government altered this fundamental principle of foreign policy, Dawn reported.
"The initiatives launched by President Xi Jinping, whether it is Global Development Initiative or Global Security Initiative, were a testament to the fact that China prioritised human security and stability over confrontation," she observed.
The Congress is held every 5 years where China watchers look for clues to the country's future. The Congress will set key priorities for the next five years, in particular, as well as China's two-stage development plan for the middle of the 21st century.
Commenting on the National People's Congress, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong said that it was the most important political agenda towards the end of the year, according to Dawn.
Meanwhile, CPEC, he said, had transformed Pakistan's socio-economic landscape by overhauling infrastructure and alleviating the energy crisis. He termed Pakistan-China relations as 'rock-solid'.
Rong also solidarity with Pakistan over the floods that have wreaked havoc across the country and said China would not leave Islamabad during such testing times.
The death toll from floods has crossed 1,100 in Pakistan and over 33 million -- one in every seven Pakistanis -- have been affected.
As of Monday, at least 1,136 people have died while 1,634 have been injured since June 14 from the rains and floods, according to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
It further said that 28 people had died in the previous 24 hours, and authorities were still trying to reach cut-off villages in the mountainous north.
The NDMA said more than two million acres of cultivated crops have been wiped out, 3,457 kilometres (about 2,200 miles) of roads destroyed, and 157 bridges washed away.
Looking at the situation, the Pakistan coalition government, on Monday, approved the establishment of the National Flood Response and Coordination Center to provide an institutional response to the flood calamity. "The centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors and government institutions," PM Shehbaz announced on his Twitter handle.
He further added that the centre will collect and analyse the latest information and pass it on to the relevant government agencies. It will also oversee rescue and relief work including restoration of infrastructure.
Pakistan is grappling with its worst natural disaster in over a decade. The floods have affected the lives of millions of people after which the Pakistan governmnet declared a "national emergency".