"We admire China's vision of developing corridors across the region," he said, adding that the massive initiative would be an important tool in fostering peace and development in the region. "OBOR would promote inclusion and tolerance and help in overcoming terrorism and extremism. Its most important impact would be on the poor and marginalized population through its objective of sustainable development," he said.
He called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a core and flagship project of One Belt One Road and said it is an economic undertaking open to all countries in the region. "CPEC has the vision of a peaceful, connected and caring neighbourhood. It hopes to achieve unprecedented economic, social and cultural benefits and is creating new jobs, businesses, investments and entrepreneurship opportunities," he said.
CPEC is bridging the gap between economic growth and social development and tapping the full potential of the country's youth, the advisor to Prime Minister added. He said the One Belt One Road (OBOR) concept is the most significant transformative initiative in recent human history. Through focus on connectivity of infrastructure including roads, rail links, sea routes, ports, and connectivity of policy, trade and finance, we are observing a phenomenon which has few historical parallels.
He said this initiative is a harbinger of shared hopes, common prosperity and win-win co-operation among the people of the World. In a sense of civilisation, the true impact of this initiative will be in the realm of thoughts, ideas and cultures. The Think Tanks are the breeding grounds for these elements. Hence, this dialogue of Think Tanks is an extremely important, cross-cutting segment of the OBOR Summit.
He said Pakistan lauds the spirit of the OBOR initiative. The concept of shared partnerships and voluntary co-operation are the basic principles of the Belt and Road Vision.
He said China has created the necessary co-operative mechanisms and brought its intellectual, technological and financial resources to make it a reality. It is for us, the participating countries of this Forum, to carry this initiative forward and play our due role in realising its true potential, he added. Sartaj Aziz said Pakistani think tanks have already established deep rooted linkages with their counterparts in China. These linkages have helped in mutual understanding of the vision of OBOR and focusing on complementarities between the people of the two countries.
He said the Think Tanks of China and the OBOR countries need to come together and utilise their combined intellectual resources. He said people-to-people exchange through think tanks can provide opportunities for cross-cultural linkages, improved understanding of each other's concerns, core interests, sensitivities and then finding common grounds.