US criticism of CPEC brings govt, PML-N on same page

MULTAN/ISLAMABAD: US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells’ undue criticism of the multibillion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has brought the government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the same page.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was inevitable for the development of Pakistan and it will be further expanded.

Speaking to the media in Multan, Qureshi said CPEC was a game changer for the region and there was no restriction on any country, including the US, to invest in the Economic Zones being established under the multibillion project.

Separately, Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan in a series of tweets said CPEC would open new vistas of economicdevelopment and prosperity not only for Pakistan and China, but also for the whole region.

“Do not concur with the US concerns on the project. CPEC is a guarantor to our economic development,” Awan said. She further said the economic zones established under the CPEC will generate job opportunities for people.

She said the commercial loans taken from China will witness remarkable reduction in the months and years to come. Firdous said China was a long-standing and deep friend and it had always supported Pakistan in every hour of need.

She said Pak-China friendship had assumed a proverbial status and it was sweeter than honey, higher than Himalayas and deeper than oceans. The special assistant said economic zones to be established under CPEC will generate jobs to the people.

On Friday, Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Yao Jing rejected US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Alice Wells’ recent statement about the CPEC saying that Beijing will never force Islamabad to make timely payments of its debt, unlike the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“If Pakistan is in need, China would never ask it to repay its loans in time,” said Jing. Meanwhile, the Foreign Office of Pakistan Sunday said the people of Pakistan and the government would carry forward the CPEC project for prosperity of the region. “The CPEC is a colossal engine for generating employment, alleviating poverty and bettering economy,” said the Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal.

He was talking to a private news channel. Replying to a question about the US reservations about the project, he said Pakistan would never become a part of economic wars of two global powers.

He said the entire nation would contribute to the development process of CPEC. “We will not move back on the CPEC at any cost,” Dr Muhammad Faisal stated. To another question about the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), he said India was the main hurdle to conducting the summit.

He said without cooperation and interest of the neighboring country, the objectives of organization could not be achieved. “Nearly 1.6 billion people are living in the South Asian region. Most of the masses are facing poverty,” he said.

He was of the view that India should take interest in vitalizing the Saarc summit so that the regional issues could be addressed in a proper manner. Meanwhile, Former Punjab chief minister and PML-N President Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif Sunday said the statement of the US acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells’ statement about the CPEC reflected her lack of knowledge.

In a statement, Shahbaz rejected outright Alice Wells’ statement. He said the people of Pakistan will always be indebted to their iron friend — China — for the CPEC. He said China wholeheartedly supported Pakistan to tackle its energy crisis. He said there was no doubting the fact that Pakistan got out of the energy crisis with the help of China adding that the Chinese money for the energy projects was mostly in shape of grants and investment. He further said the Chinese loan in the CPEC projects was negligible and at the extremely low interest rate.