Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday met with Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Jiang Zaidong, during a courtesy call paid on him at PM House in Islamabad, where the regional situation in the Middle East and Pakistan’s peace efforts also came under discussion.
PM Shehbaz Sharif was assisted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Dr Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, SAPM Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Shehbaz Sharif conveyed his warm regards and greetings for President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
While expressing his satisfaction at the positive trajectory of Pakistan-China bilateral relations, the prime minister reaffirmed that Pakistan took great pride in its All-Weather Cooperative Strategic Partnership with China. He also spoke of his resolve to continue working closely with the Chinese leadership, to ensure that the relationship grows from strength to strength.
The Chinese Ambassador thanked the prime minister for receiving him and expressed China’s appreciation of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts for lasting peace in the region.
The envoy reaffirmed China’s commitment to strengthening its iron-clad ties with Pakistan and to take them to new heights, as envisioned by President Xi Jinping.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, calling energy security a vital part of the country’s future planning, said that the government’s timely measures regarding energy conservation in the current regional situation averted a crisis.
The prime minister, chairing a high-level meeting regarding energy security on Thursday, said that work was underway on a plan to maintain strategic reserves of crude oil in the country, keeping in view future energy needs.
Besides, he said that for energy conservation and sustainable development, means of transportation should be gradually transitioned to eco-friendly electric vehicles (EVs).
The prime minister directed to purchase only electric buses and motorcycles for government use in the future and accelerate the establishment of charging stations for EVs.
Calling for a strategy to facilitate the acquisition of batteries for the storage of surplus solar electricity, he said that local manufacturing of high-quality storage batteries should also be encouraged.
During the briefing, the participants of the meeting were told that the National Coordination and Management Council (NCMC) was reviewing the energy situation on a daily basis.
It was informed that sufficient stocks of petroleum products were available, and the food security situation in the country was also stable.
The participants were told that through the continuous efforts of oil and gas companies, local production of gas and oil was increasing and a PC-I was being prepared for two pilot projects for battery storage at the grid level.
Besides, the domestic consumers generating solar energy were being encouraged to install battery storage.
Federal ministers Musadik Masood Malik, Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Sardar Awais Leghari, Attaullah Tarar, Ali Pervez Malik, Ahsan Iqbal, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Privatization Muhammad Ali, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar, and relevant senior government officials attended the meeting.
