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Pakistan's National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf has refuted the reports that Pakistan has offered a military base to China in the port city of Gwadar amid security concerns in the region.
Earlier, a report has stated that China is secretly building a high-security compound near Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan province which it will probably use for a naval base. In an interview with a UK broadcaster, Pakistan NSA said there are economic bases of China in Pakistan, where any country in the world can invest. He added that "the same was also offered" to the US, Russia and the Middle East, Pakistan's Geo News reported. "We are open to all countries," the NSA said adding that Beijing is a close friend of Islamabad. Meanwhile, analysts have been watching for the first signs of a long-expected Chinese naval base at Gwadar, a leading Aerospace and Defense magazine Forbes informed in June. "The base, to complement the one at Djibouti, would strengthen China's foothold in the Indian Ocean. Recent satellite images appear to show that several new complexes have been built in the last few years. One of them, identified as a Chinese company involved in port development, has unusually high security," said Forbes. Located at the western end of Pakistan's coast, Gwadar is expected to be a major port in China's Belt and Road Initiative, Forbes informed. During the interview with NSA, interviewer Stephen Sackur also asked him whether Pakistan has developed close ties with China at the cost of raising its voice for Muslims around the world, particularly those in Xinjiang. "You raise your voice for Kashmiri Muslims but refuse to condemn the violation of human rights in a Chinese province," Sackur asked Yusuf. The NSA said that Pakistan does not agree with the Western version about the alleged atrocities being committed against Muslims in Xinjiang, Geo News reported. "We have relations of trust with China and our ambassador and other delegations from here also visited the Xinjiang province," he observed, adding that if Western countries have a problem with China, they should talk to Beijing about it. During the interview, Yusuf also appealed to the world to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan. (ANI)
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