Pakistani PM visits Dasu project camp to console Chinese personnel

This photo released by Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) shows Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shaking hands with a Chinese staff member at the Dasu Hydropower project's camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, April 1, 2024. Shehbaz Sharif on Monday visited the Dasu Hydropower project's camp to console Chinese personnel of the project. (PID/Handout via Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday visited the Dasu Hydropower project's camp in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to console Chinese personnel of the project.

Addressing the workers, Sharif expressed deep condolences for the victims of the Dasu terrorist attack and sincere consolation to the relatives of the victims and the Chinese personnel of the project.

It is the responsibility of the Pakistani government to protect the safety of the Chinese brothers and sisters who came to Pakistan to help its development and progress, the prime minister said, promising that his government will hunt down the culprits at all costs and spare no effort to protect the safety of Chinese citizens and projects in Pakistan.

"Any attempt to undermine the two countries' friendship will not succeed, and any enemy of it will only suffer a crushing defeat," he added.

Pakistan will crack down on terrorism and seriously punish terrorists to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again, Sharif said.

On the occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong said the Chinese side hopes and believes that the Pakistani side will translate policies into concrete actions, bring the murderers to justice as soon as possible, resolutely eliminate terrorist forces, and make every effort to protect the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan.

"We stand ready to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in various fields, including counter-terrorism, and work together to build a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future," said the Chinese ambassador.

Five Chinese and one Pakistani national were killed on March 26 in a terrorist attack on the way to the Dasu Hydropower Project in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Islamabad.