China's rise has presented significant economic opportunities for Pakistan and the wider region, marking a new chapter in the "ironclad" Pakistan-China partnership, according to former Pakistani Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar.
In an interview with the China Media Group (CMG) during a recent visit to China, Kakar hailed the strength and resilience of the bilateral relationship, which has often dubbed as an "ironclad" friendship between the two neighboring nations.
"When it comes to the 'ironclad' phrase, actually it means our relation with resilience, with time testing challenges which has happened in the history of both nations and countries. And both have fulfilled one another's expectations, while at times even beyond expectations," he said.
Kakar also highlighted the positive spillover effect that China's peaceful rise has brought to Pakistan and the broader world, noting that Pakistan is committed to strengthening ties with China to maximize these benefits.
"So this relationship is just not in terms of a strategic arena, but also in an economic arena. Pakistan feels that the rise of China has never been a threatening China. It is a China which is self-confident, which offers economic opportunities not just for its domestic population, but for its [wider] neighborhood, for its region, for the entire globe. We should not forget that the Chinese production capacity, post-1979 particularly, is primarily responsible for keeping inflation in check at a global level. It was the cheap production cost of Chinese goods to different consumers across the globe," said Kakar.
The two countries agreed to commence the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) back in 2013, which has served as the cornerstone of the two countries' all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and led to developments such as the Gwadar Port.
Kakar said this is an example of the fruits and economic benefits afforded by the strong ties between the two sides.
"The economic opportunity which China is offering to Pakistan is translating another chapter to that ironclad long journey and relationship, and we hope that we will benefit from the economic front as much as we benefited on the strategic front with the Chinese friendship," he said.
Economic opportunities open new chapter in China-Pakistan ironclad relationship: former PM
The United States and Iran carried out fresh strikes on each other's targets, as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz escalated after the U.S. accused Iran of attacking commercial shipping and Iran said it was responding to recent U.S. "aggression".
Iranian state television reported early Sunday local time that several explosions were heard in the Sirik area of Hormozgan Province in southern Iran. It also said Qeshm Island and areas near Bandar Lengeh, both in southern Iran, had come under attack.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday afternoon U.S. time that American forces had launched a new round of strikes on multiple targets inside Iran. It said the operation came after Iranian forces launched an attack drone early Saturday that hit an oil tanker sailing near the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM said the U.S. strikes targeted 10 Iranian military sites in and around the strait, including surveillance facilities, communications systems, air defense positions, drone storage facilities and mine-laying equipment. It called the operation a direct response to what it described as Iran's continued actions against commercial shipping.
Shortly afterward, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its naval and air forces had used missiles and drones to strike eight key U.S. military facilities at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
The IRGC said the strikes were a decisive response to recent U.S. "aggression," accusing the U.S. of repeatedly breaking its commitments and using the IRGC Navy's "interception of a violating vessel" as a pretext to attack five Iranian coastal outposts.
In a separate statement, the IRGC Navy said U.S. strikes on the Sirik area would not change Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz. It said Iran's warning shots at "violating" vessels were intended to remind ships to follow designated routes through the waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday also accused Iran of again violating the ceasefire agreement in a social media post.
The latest exchange of fire followed U.S. strikes on Iran on Friday, which CENTCOM said were launched in response to an Iranian drone attack on a commercial vessel passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. airstrikes, saying they violated a memorandum of understanding between the two sides and that Iran would defend its sovereignty and security under international law.
US, Iran trade strikes again as tensions flare around Hormuz
