Once again friendship of two iron-clad brothers has proved eternal, negating all false, fake, fictional and fabricated propaganda of the Western imperialistic powers. Undoubtedly, in the time of crises, China always stood first to help Pakistan and its people alike.

Most recently, China has once again set another splendid example of unmatched human generosity, true compassion and humanitarian assistance by timely evacuating stranded citizens of Pakistan from Sudan which is currently passing through severe political rifts and communal conflicts.

Now Pakistan’s government has expressed gratitude to China for helping the country in the evacuation of its citizens stranded in Sudan, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

On its part, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Twitter on Friday night that a batch of 216 Pakistani nationals had arrived in Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia from Port Sudan aboard the Chinese navy vessel Weishanhu.

 

“We are grateful to our Chinese friends for this gesture of support and friendship,” added the ministry. Moreover, on Saturday morning, the ministry issued another statement saying that another batch of 97 Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan has arrived at Jinnah International Airport from Jeddah.

 

According to the ministry, the people came back home from Jeddah aboard an aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force. The ministry assured to continue to facilitate the safe return of stranded Pakistanis.

 

Earlier on Friday, the spokesperson of the ministry Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the Pakistani side was engaging with “friendly countries in the region for facilitating this process by providing transport to shift Pakistanis from Sudan.”

 

 

In this regard, the first two batches of total 260 Pakistanis evacuated from Sudan where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed and wounded hundreds arrived in Karachi on Friday, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

 

The first batch, comprising 149 individuals, arrived in the port city today morning, with the FO saying that the safe evacuation of every Pakistani and bringing them home was a “top priority”.

 

Hours later, the FO said a second batch of 111 stranded Pakistan had also reached Karachi. “With the latest flight, 260 Pakistanis have returned home safely,” it added.

 

The stranded Pakistanis were evacuated from Sudan through Jeddah via a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Airbus and C-130 Hercules aircraft.

 

On the directives of the prime minister, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu had ordered the PAF transport fleet to carry out the swift evacuation of Pakistanis from conflict-hit Sudan.

 

After safely arriving in Pakistan, the evacuated families expressed their gratitude to the government and appreciated the Pakistan Air Force for their timely rescue amidst the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan in which brotherly country China has played an important and decisive role which ultimately ensured the safety of stranded Pakistani trapped in the ongoing conflict between two conflicting groups in Sudan. It is indeed an act of essential support and true friendship and the government of Pakistan and its people are really thankful to Chinese government and its people.

 

Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

 

At least 512 people have been killed and 4,193 wounded in the fighting, according to health ministry figures, although the real death toll is likely much higher.

 

Detailing the government’s evacuation plan, Baloch said that 800 Pakistanis were transported from Khartoum to Port Sudan which is relatively safe than other parts of the country — in the first phase.

 

The second phase of the evacuation operation consisted of transporting Pakistani nationals from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, or directly to Pakistan.

 

“We remain engaged with friendly countries in the region and are especially grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for facilitating this process by providing transport by ferry from Port Sudan to Jeddah and also hosting Pakistani nationals until their repatriation to Pakistan,” Baloch said.

 

Pakistan has expressed gratitude to China for helping the country in the evacuation of its citizens stranded in Sudan, said the Foreign Office.

As of right now, Pakistan and China have worked together to securely remove 573 Pakistani people from Sudan. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been evacuating stranded Pakistanis from the war-torn Sudan since mid-April, and on Saturday it successfully completed its third operation.

 

To conclude, China has been assisting Pakistan in its all difficult times in the past. China was the first country to send humanitarian assistance aid in the deadly earthquake of 2008, floods of 2011 and 2013 which saved millions of people form hunger, diseases and provided essential shelter, food stuffs, blankets and last but not least medicines.

 

In near past, under the flagship project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Chinese government, embassy, private sector and people jointly strived hard to lessen the “collateral damage” of calamity and climatic disasters in the shape of severe floods in Pakistan.

In this connection, their  “substantial” “sufficient” “speedy” and “timely” humanitarian assistance vividly reflected true spirit of the dominant Chinese conception of “humanism” in the Confucian theory of “REN” wherein, the REN stands for benevolence, goodness, virtue, humanity, humanness and last but not the least, humanitarian aid/gesture.

It was indeed been an extension of the Chinese ancient philosophy of “ethical relationalism” which always prefers “personal” engagements over mere “capitalistic profits”.

On his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to Pakistani President Arif Alvi over the ongoing calamity of floods in Pakistan. According to official data of the National Disaster Management Authority more than 2500 people died in the ongoing flooding in the country.

A friend in need is a friend indeed is a proverb and China has now become the “vivid reflection” of its finality and functionality in Pakistan. The current evacuations of stranded citizens of Pakistan in Sudan is another example of true friendship comprising of mutual respect, caring & sharing and humanity which must be written in golden words in the book of history.

During the devastating floods China became a “beacon of hope” in the far-flung areas for the struggling people and communities alike. China’s timely and generous humanitarian assistance won the hearts and souls of millions of people inflicted and trapped in the floods in the country. Chinese humanitarian assistance became a symbol of genuine charity, compassion and people’s cooperation among the flood affected people.

Right from the beginning of the floods in the country China expressed deep sorrows and sympathies with the victims of flash floods in Balochistan and Sindh and pledged emergency humanitarian aid, including tents and urgently-needed relief material to the government of Pakistan.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, China pledged to donate another batch of emergency humanitarian supplies to Pakistan, comprising of 25,000 tents and other commodities. He assured that China would continue to promote bilateral cooperation in disaster prevention management and mitigate the effects of climate change in the country.

Pak-China Friendship is supremely trust-worthy, compassionate and result oriented. China always stood first to help Pakistan in the time of crisis and always succeeded to convert tears into smiles, injuries into sentiments of integrity, meaningful interaction and soulful intimacy.