ISLAMABAD: Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday vowed not to allow anyone to harm the iron-clad friendship between Pakistan and China and promised to thoroughly investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of the Karachi University attack that killed four people, including three Chinese nationals.
Three Chinese language teachers were killed when an explosion triggered by a burqa-clad woman suicide bomber from the banned Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) ripped through a van of the Confucius Institute at the prestigious University of Karachi on April 26.
A Pakistani driver of the van was also killed. The Karachi incident was the latest targeted attack against Chinese citizens in Pakistan.
Addressing a solemn memorial service held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to honour the lives and services of the victims of the terrorist attack, Bilawal said the entire nation grieved with the families and people of China at this terrible loss.
Bilawal reiterated his strong condemnation of Karachi terrorist attack and "reaffirmed the Government's commitment to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice", the Foreign Office said in a statement.
He expressed his determination to not allow anyone to harm the iron-clad friendship between Pakistan and China and underscored that the Pakistan-China 'iron-brotherhood' would continue to grow.
Speaking on the occasion, Chargé d'Affaires of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, Pang Chunxue thanked the Government of Pakistan for organising the memorial service. She appreciated the expression of solidarity and support by the entire Pakistani nation against the cowardly attack.
She vowed that the blood of the Chinese people in nurturing this timeless friendship will not be in vain, and that any attack aimed at the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China was doomed to fail.
Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Sohail Mahmood in his remarks highlighted that the tragic deaths of innocent teachers had caused deep shock and anguish to every Pakistani, but this had not deterred our resolve to defeat the scourge of terrorism.
He underlined that Pakistan and China had always stood by each other and expressed the confidence that the two countries could counter any challenge by working together in their long-standing spirit of mutual support and close cooperation.
Earlier, the Foreign Minister Zardari laid floral wreaths in remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice of the Chinese victims and recorded his remarks in the condolence book.
Apart from the foreign minister, China's Cd'A, senior Chinese officials and Chinese nationals from all walks of life in Pakistan attended the ceremony.