Pak, China mull new avenues to expand ties

SANYA—Chinese President Hu Jintao made a five-point proposal Friday morning for further promoting the China-Pakistan strategic partnership.
Hu made the proposals in talks with visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Sanya, a scenic city on south China’s island province of Hainan, according to Xinhua news agency.
Hu suggested the two countries should consolidate the political basis of their strategic partnership, maintain exchanges and cooperation in various levels between governments, legislatures, political parties and armed forces so as to ensure the consistency and stability of their strategic partnership, and strengthen communication and consultation on major issues.
Hu proposed that progress of the negotiations on service trade should be accelerated, and a comprehensive free trade area should be established as early as possible. The Chinese government will continue to encourage Chinese companies to enhance cooperation with Pakistani companies in areas including finance, telecom, energy and transportation.
Hu urged the two countries to strengthen cooperation in fighting terrorism and drug control, and enhance exchanges and cooperation over Beijing Olympic Games security. Hu called for enhancing cooperation and exchanges in areas of culture, education, health, sports, tourism, and between media and academic organizations. He encouraged the two countries to expand exchanges between women, young peoples and non-governmental organizations, and strengthen cooperation in human resources development and professional training.
Hu also suggested to enhance multilateral cooperation with Pakistan, continue close coordination and cooperation in the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Regional Forum of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, so as to safeguard common interests of China and Pakistan, as well as those of other developing countries.
Following the round of formal talks, the two leaders also witnessed signing of two Memorandum of Understanding and an agreement. These included an MoU between the Ministries of Water and Power of the two countries, another on cooperation in sports and the third for cooperation in the area of engineering, sciences and technology.
Meanwhile in an interview with Xinhua news agency before the start of his visit President Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan had a multi-faceted strategy to fight terrorism and extremism in the country. President Musharraf said the multi-faceted strategy involved military, negotiations, socio-economic development and education. He pointed out that many people did not understand the complexity of terrorism and extremism. “Terrorist is a man with weapon who will kill you if you do not kill them, so you have to eliminate them before they kill you,” Musharraf said.—Agencies