CPAPD visits PCI, 2014 Nato Withdrawal & its Implications Discussed
Source : PCI Date : 23-05-2014 By : Our Staff
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A delegation of the Chinese People's Association for Peace & Disarmament (CPAPD), led by the deputy Secretary General Madame Chen Huaifan, visited the Pakistan-China Institute and had a meeting with the PCI team, headed by its Chairman, Senator Mushahid Hussain.
They discussed issues of mutual interest including the situation arising out of the 2014 projected withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, the interests and role of Pakistan and China in such a scenario, as well the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor in the context of President Xi Jinping's concept of a Central Asia Economic Belt.
The PCI Chairman briefed the delegation about his recent visits to Afghanistan, meetings with Afghan leaders including President Karzai, presidential candidate Dr Abdullah Abdullah, and visit to Brussels where he interacted with NATO deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow.
Pakistan's principal concerns centred on security and stability in Afghanistan, primarily to ensure that was no vacuum nor an 'action replay' of the 1989 exit of the Soviet Red Army, which had resulted in a long, debilitating civil war plus the continued presence of 2.5 million Afghan refugees. In this context, the Pakistan-China Institute had organised the first-ever trilateral dialogue of think tanks of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan in Beijing in August 2013 in cooperation with the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Senator Mushahid Hussain invited CPAPD to participate in the second such dialogue, convening in Islamabad, in May 2014.
Madame Chen appreciated the role of Pakistan-China Institute in promoting people-to-people ties between Pakistan and China, and hoped that cooperation between PCI and CPAPD would be strengthened at the institutional level.