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
