This was stated in the joint statement issued in Islamabad on Friday at the conclusion of the visit to Pakistan by Indian members of the Judicial Committee on Prisoners. The statement said that in keeping with a decision taken at the meeting of the Home and Interior Secretaries in New Delhi last month, India's Coast Guard and Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency will work on the setting up of the mechanism.

Year 2011 is important to the development of Sino-Russian relations. The two countries will hold a series of high-level meetings and exchange of visits to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the "Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation," the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation and the 10th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui accepted China.org.cn's interview and shared his views on the Sino-Russian relationship, the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The interview transcript follows:
China.org.cn: This year is the 10th anniversary of the "Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation." It also marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation. How do you view the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation? What celebrations will be held in Russia this year?

Li Hui: The year 2011 is an important year in the development of the Sino-Russian relations. The two countries will hold grand celebrations. During the last ten years, the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation has enjoyed a rapid, healthy and stable development, and has reached an unprecedented level. I want to say that the development has the following special characteristics:

(a) The mutual political trust between the two countries has been enhanced and high-level contact has been frequent. The mechanisms of the regular meetings of the heads of the state, speakers and the prime ministers as well as multi-level and wide-ranging consultation and dialogue have been established. Left-over border issues, which were a major obstacle for the bilateral relations, has been completely resolved. The two countries provide firm support to each other on core issues of mutual interest.

(b) The strategic cooperation between the two countries has been significantly enhanced. On major international and regional affairs, the two countries are in close contact with each other and act in coordinative cooperation. The two countries issued a "Joint declaration on a multi-polar world and the establishment of a new international order" and a "Joint declaration on international order in the 21st Century". The two countries have cooperated closely within the framework of multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, the Group of Twenty, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and Russia-China-India Cooperation Mechanism. The cooperation has effectively promoted the process of world multi-polarization and has played an important role for the maintenance of world peace, security and stability.

(c) Pragmatic cooperation has yielded substantial results. The bilateral trade structure has been optimized and the trade volume has increased significantly, from 6.83 billion US dollars in 1996 to 55.45 billion US dollars in 2010. Energy cooperation has made breakthroughs. The China-Russia crude oil pipeline is in full operation while cooperation on coal, nuclear energy, electricity and other fields are being carrying out in an orderly manner. Financial cooperation has been pushed forward step by step. The volume of settlement in local currency in border trade between China and Russia continues to expand. Direct trading between the Chinese currency, the renminbi, and the Russian ruble has also started. The "Northeast China-Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia Regional Cooperation Plan (2009-2018)" has injected tremendous momentum to boost the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.

(d) Cultural exchanges are more active than ever. Activities like the "national year" and "language year" organized between the two countries have achieved fruitful results. Hundreds of events attracted millions of people of both countries. Russian President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev invited over 1500 children from Sichuan and other quake-hit areas to recuperate in Russia, and Chinese President Hu Jintao invited over 1000 Russian elementary and secondary school students to participate in a summer camp in China. The rapid development of cultural cooperation has greatly enhanced mutual understanding and emotional bonds between the two peoples. The idea of an eternal China-Russia friendship has taken root in the hearts of the two peoples.

Sino-Russian relations have become the most stable and most dynamic set of relations among major powers in today's international politics. The relationship can be ranked as a model of relations between countries. In the current context of the complicated international situation, the constant deepening of the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation has become an important driving force for rapid development of the two emerging powers. It also plays an irreplaceable role in promoting world multi-polarization and establishes a just and rational international political and economic new order.

China.org.cn: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). How do you evaluate the achievements SCO has made of the past 10 years? Can you give us an introduction on China and Russia's cooperation and development within the framework of the SCO?

Li Hui: Compared with other international organizations, the history of SCO is not quite long, but its achievements have been very fruitful. During the last ten years, the SCO has established permanent bodies like the SCO Secretariat and regional counter-terrorism agencies. It has built multi-level mechanisms in various fields for effective cooperation, such as regular meetings from the heads of state to expert group meeting. Adhering to the "Shanghai Spirit" of "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and seeking common development", SCO has played an important role in enhancing political mutual trust, maintaining regional security and promoting pragmatic cooperation among its member countries. Now an increasing more countries are ready to cooperate with SCO, and some of them even showed their willingness to become full members. The gesture is also proof of the huge appeal and sound development prospects of SCO.

China and Russia founded the SCO based on their strategic partnership of cooperation. The two countries unanimously support the development of SCO to promote common security and economic development of SCO member countries. The two countries also maintain close cooperation and communication on various major issues concerning SCO's organizational development. Together with other member countries, fully utilizing their own strengths and resources, China and Russia have made tireless efforts to work for the security, stability and economic prosperity of the region. We can say that the cooperation of China and Russia within the framework of the SCO is the extension of the two countries' high level strategic partnership of cooperation.

China.org.cn:

When will the third meeting of the ruling party dialogue mechanism of China and Russia be held? And what issues will be discussed during the meeting?
Li Hui: The friendly and cooperative relation between the Chinese Communist Party and the United Russia Party is an important part of Sino-Russia relations. The dialogue mechanism between the two parties is a regular means of communication over issues of common interest like international and regional situations, bilateral relations between the two parties and the two countries as well as the ruling parties' own internal structures. The dialogue is held once a year alternating between the two countries. The first meeting was held in Beijing in June 2009, and the second meeting in Moscow in March 2010. The third one is tentatively scheduled to be held in China in autumn. The meeting will focus on how to comprehensively strengthen friendly and cooperative relationship between the two parties.
China.org.cn: It has been more than one year since you were appointed Chinese Ambassador to Russia. During this period, you must have experienced the steady development of Sino-Russian relations and many problems to be faced. Can you talk about your feelings of this year as Ambassador to Russia?

Li Hui: I worked in the Chinese Embassy in the Soviet Union (Russia) twice during the 1980s and 1990s, and now is my third time to work here. Compared with the previous two experiences, in the past year I have felt most deeply that the Sino-Russian relations are at record-high level. I just want to give you a few examples: In the previous year, the leaders of both countries held a total of six meetings. President Hu Jintao made a special trip to Russia on invitation to attend the 65th anniversary celebration of the victory of Great Patriotic War. China-Russia bilateral trade has withstood the impact of the global financial crisis and trade volume has quickly recovered to pre-crisis levels. China has become Russia's second largest trading partner. The operation of China-Russia crude oil pipeline is beneficial in enhancing the cooperation between the two countries. The "language year" organized in both countries has set off a wave of Chinese and Russian language learning among the two peoples. People of the both countries are more willing to try to understand each other. The close collaborations between the two countries on major international and regional issues are remarkable and impressive.

China and Russia are geographically adjacent and economically complementary. Both countries are in a period of rapid economic and social development. There are broad prospects for pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade, investment, energy, finance, high technology and innovation areas, as well as great potential for cultural exchange and cooperation. At present, as we take the opportunity of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the "Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation" and the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation, China and Russia are taking effective measures to continuously consolidate the material foundation and social infrastructure of bilateral relations to promote the Sino-Russian relations to a higher level.

(This article was written in Chinese and translated by Li Huiru.)

23/04/11 Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf will commence sit- in today to cut up the supply line of Nato forces in Afghanistan to press Pakistani and US governments to stop drone attacks killing innocent people.

PTI has already finalized arrangements for its protest sit-in (April 23-24) against the US drone strikes . The city has been decorated with banners and posters carrying large

Moin Akthar one of Pakistan’s best-known television, stage and film artistes died of a heart attack on Friday.

He was 61 and is survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons, reported 'Khaleej Times'.

Moin was under treatment for heart ailments for sometime.

Besides being a television, film and stage actor, as well as a comedian, impersonator and a host, Moin was also a playwright, singer, film director and a producer.

During his illustrious career as an actor, Moin won numerous awards at home and abroad including Pakistan’s Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz.

Fluent in several languages, including English, Bengali, Sindhi, Punjabi, Memon, Pushto and Gujarati, Moin had a following not only in Pakistan but in India, too.