Pakistani PM emphasized “complete trust” between Pakistan and China

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Tuesday that Pakistan's friendship with China is based on "complete trust and confidence" and that Beijing's economic transformation and peaceful rise was a source of strength for the region.

"We take pride in economic strides and prosperity of China, and its transformation and development is a model and lesson to the world," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted Aziz as saying. The premier made his remarks at a two-day international conference attended by experts and analysts from China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Aziz said Pakistan's friendship with China has been a source of peace and stability in South Asia, the AP reports. "Pakistan and China enjoy an all-weather friendship based on complete trust and confidence and have identical views on all major issues," he said.

China is Pakistan's neighbor and one of its main defense suppliers and trading partners.

The two countries are also jointly manufacturing JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft. China has also helped Pakistan set up a nuclear power plant, and the two sides recently began work on a second plant in eastern Punjab province.