BEIJING: Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi urged Pakistan to investigate a blast on a bus that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, but stopped short of calling it an attack, according to a post on Thursday on the foreign ministry’s website.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson called the Wednesday blast a bomb attack later that day but Pakistan said a mechanical failure caused a gas leak that led to the explosion.
The blast sent the bus crashing into a ravine in Khyber-Paktunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan where Chinese engineers have for several years been working on hydroelectric projects as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
China is a close ally and major investor in Pakistan and various militants fighting the Pakistani state have in the past attacked Chinese projects.
Wang told Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi that if it was indeed a “terrorist attack,” and Pakistan should immediately arrest the culprits and punish them severely, according to the Chinese ministry’s summary of a meeting they had in Dushanbe on Wednesday.
Wang, who is China’s State Councillor and foreign minister, said “lessons should be learned” and both sides should further strengthen security measures for China-Pakistan cooperation projects to ensure their safe and smooth operation.
The two spoke in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
China foreign minister urges Pakistan to investigate bus blast that killed 9 Chinese
https://arab.news/y4ujj
China foreign minister urges Pakistan to investigate bus blast that killed 9 Chinese
- A blast on a bus killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, on Wednesday in northwest Pakistan
- Pakistan blamed it on a mechanical failure, Chinese foreign minister calls it “terrorist attack“
Pakistan PM praises stuntman ‘Sultan Golden’ for breaking record for fastest reverse car driving
- Sultan Muhammad Khan drove one mile in reverse in just 57 seconds to set new world record, local media widely reported
- Khan previously broke world record for longest motorbike ramp jump in 1987, managing a 249-feet long jump in Lahore
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari praised renowned stuntman Sultan Muhammad Khan, popularly known as “Sultan Golden,” for breaking the world record for fastest reverse driving a car on Saturday.
As per local media reports, Khan achieved the feat in the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province Quetta, when he drove one mile in reserve in just 57 seconds.
“Sultan Golden has made Pakistan proud across the world,” Sharif said in a statement released by his office.
The Pakistani prime minister said his government is committed to providing all possible facilities in every field of sports.
Zardari also heaped praise on the stuntman for setting the new world record.
“He said the achievement reflects the skill, courage and dedication of Pakistanis, strengthening Pakistan’s positive image globally and wished him continued success,” the president’s official X account wrote.
Khan has been performing stunts since the 1980s in Pakistan, a country where motorsports does not gain traction due to a lack of infrastructure and popularity of other sports such as cricket, football and squash.
Khan, who hails from the southwestern city of Pasni, earned the nickname ‘Golden’ early on in his youth for his iconic curly golden hair.
In March 1987, he entered his name in the Guinness Book of World Records when he performed the longest motorbike ramp jump in Lahore. Khan managed a 249-feet long jump, beating the previous record by two feet.
