Pakistan is going to work with its long-time friend China on a lot more technical projects in a lot of important areas, such as space exploration, nuclear technology, and artificial intelligence. Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, verified this after a recent official trip to China. The developing alliance has a big goal: to land on the moon in Pakistan with help from China by 2035.
Minister Iqbal spoke with high-ranking Chinese officials while he was there, including the head of China’s nuclear and space agencies. He stressed that the two countries are looking for ways to work together more closely, especially when it comes to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. They are focusing on how to use it more in farming. Pakistan’s Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3, which uses the Chinese-made Hualong One reactor, just finished its last operational testing, thus this is a smart decision.
The cooperation in space is very impressive. Iqbal said that next year, a Pakistani astronaut will go to the Chinese space station. He went on to describe a plan for a Pakistani lunar expedition, saying, “Later, with help from China, we will send and land a rover on the moon, which will be another big step forward.” He made it clear that Pakistan’s space agency, SUPARCO, has been given the job of landing on the moon by 2035, and China has officially been invited to help with this first-of-its-kind mission.
The minister’s visit also brought attention to recent victories that both sides have had together. He went to the launch of the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 on July 31 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s Sichuan region. The “Uraan Pakistan” project in Pakistan intends to improve the country’s space sciences. This satellite is one of many that are part of it. In addition to space and nuclear power, the two countries are also working to strengthen their cooperation in cutting-edge industries like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. This shows that they are forming a strong, long-term alliance.