Pakistan proud of friendship with China: FO

Islamabad: Pakistan has said that the Pakistani nation was proud of its friendship with China.

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch rubbished controversial remarks by a US official about China’s loans under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

She told a news briefing here that Islamabad was proud of its friendship with Beijing which has always come to assistance whenever needed.

“China has always come to Pakistan’s assistance whenever needed. Pakistani nation is proud of its friendship with China,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said when asked about the US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet’s recent statement regarding Pakistan-China relations

The spokesperson stressed that Pakistan being a sovereign state exercises the right to choose its economic partners from around the globe on mutually beneficially basis.

“Pakistan considers China as an all-weather strategic cooperative partner,” she reiterated. “China has been a consistent, generous and steadfast friend that has stood by Pakistan for the last several decades,” she added.

US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet had said last week during visit to Islamabad that United States was concerned about debt owed to China by Pakistan and other countries.

He contended that Washington was talking to Islamabad about the “perils” of a closer relationship with Beijing, but would not ask Pakistan to choose between the United States and China.

To a question, Baloch informed that Pakistan will host a one day conference on ‘Women in Islam: Understanding the Rights and Identity of Women in the Islamic World’ on the 8th of next month at the UN headquarters on the sidelines of the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.