Ambassador (Retd.) Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who chaired the panel discussion, also shared his views on the speakers’ talks. He highlighted the role played by the Chinese government to help Pakistan secure economic stability; spoke on the political and security implications of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement and how the government needed to address it; and reiterated the need for the Pakistan government to correct its internal policies in order to secure any opportunities for security and economic prosperity.

Mr. Zhao Lijian, Deputy Chief of Mission of the People’s Republic of China, spoke of his country’s unwavering confidence in the federal and provincial governments of Pakistan, as well as the Pak armed forces. He discussed the Chinese government’s efforts to strengthen Pakistan’s economy by means of the CPEC. In Balochistan, he explained, China has the greatest number of CPEC projects, 16 in total, the largest being the coal fired power plant in Hub. He discussed the various road networks that China is helping develop within Pakistan, as well as the infrastructural projects that had been planned for Balochistan and which would contribute to the province’s socio-economic uplift.