New Delhi: Pakistani Senator Khalida Parveen of the People’s Party of Pakistan has suggested that the official Chinese language be taught in Pakistan, to “current and prospective CPEC human resource”.
“This House recommends that, in view of the growing collaboration between Pakistan and China under the CPEC, courses of the Official Chinese Language should be launched for all current and prospective Pakistani CPEC human resource in order to overcome any costly communication barriers,” she said.
The motion said the step was necessary in view of ties between Pakistan and China.
Pakistan believes that the relation between Islamabad and Beijing would deepen further and help the people connected with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor communicate easily if Mandarin is taught in the country.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani tweeted: “In a short span of 70 years, Pakistan has flirted with promoting four languages that were not the mother tongue of many people in the country – English, Urdu, Arabic, and now Chinese — ignoring native languages.”
According to Dawn News, Pakistanis are more interested in learning the Chinese language than ever as they see the tides changing and expect that knowing Mandarin would mean more job opportunities in Pakistan and China.
Earlier, Pakistan allowed the Chinese Yuan to be used for imports, exports and financing transactions for bilateral trade and investment activities to simplify a massive Chinese investment project.
According to a statement issued by the central State Bank of Pakistan, “Both public and private sector enterprises may use the Yuan for bilateral trade and investment.”
“As per current foreign exchange regulations, Chinese Yuan (CNY) is an approved foreign currency for denominating foreign currency transactions in Pakistan,” it said.
“In terms of regulations in Pakistan, CNY is at par with other international currencies such as USD, Euro, and JPY,” it added.
The bank said that in light of a massive Chinese infrastructure project in Pakistan, the move would “yield long-term benefits for both the countries”.
The adoption of Yuan means that Pakistan and China would be able to replace the US dollar for transactions in the $50-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
