15,000 military, civilian personnel raised for CPEC security: PM

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that the government has raised Special Security Division (SSD), comprising of 15,000 military and civilian armed forces for ensuring safety of Chinese brothers working on different projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He was talking to Vice Minister of International Department of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, Zheng Xiaosong who called on him at PM House, Islamabad.
Welcoming the Vice Minister on his visit to Pakistan, the PM said, "Pakistan and China are close friends, neighbours and partners." The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the visit of Zheng Xiaosong will further strengthen the warm and friendly relations between the two countries.
The Prime Minister further stated, "The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its related projects symbolise the people-centric approach of the two countries. The project has certainly transformed the friendly relations between the two countries into a strong economic partnership."
The Prime Minister underlined that, "The benefits of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are visible in growing bilateral trade, which crossed the figure of US 18 billion dollars this year." "The enormous potential of trade between China and Pakistan will further enhance the quantum of bilateral trade between the two countries," added the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister emphasised that Pakistan remains committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, without any discrimination and the ongoing military operation against terrorists has yielded very positive results. The Prime Minister further said, "The war against terrorism and extremism will be taken to its logical end, and the terrorists' backbone has already been broken and network dismantled."
Zheng Xiaosong said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sjharif was a household name in China.
"China-Pakistan friendship has entered into a new phase during the present government in Pakistan. We are satisfied with the pace of implementation work on various projects under CPEC, especially in Punjab the speedy work is exemplary," he said.
The Vice Minister said, "Alongside the rapidly improving relations between China and Pakistan, the relations between the Communist Party of China and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are also fast increasing." He further said, "The delegation level exchanges between the two political parties are also welcoming." "We need to continue the high level exchanges between our two countries and political parties," he added. Zheng Xiaosong said, "The role of Communist Party in the development of China is exemplary. He said that the number of present party members of Communist Party is 8.9 million and that party discipline is strictly followed." "We will be looking forward to welcoming PML-N's delegation in China next year," he said.