Let’s not reinvent the wheel

I wonder why there is such a huge controversy about the route of the CPEC. The most feasible and strategic route for a north-south trade corridor with the shortest and most convenient access to the Gwadar Port is the Indus Highway. Moreover, it fulfils all the prerequisites of the CPEC – it is the shortest link from north of the country to Gwadar; it is on the west bank of the Indus River and passes through all underdeveloped and underprivileged population centres of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh.

So instead of spending billions (like the metro-bus) on building a new corridor from scratch in no man’s land to establish economic zones where there is no water, fuel, gas, electricity, telecom facilities, etc, why not upgrade the already existing Indus Highway, which is currently in a dilapidated state, into a world-class motorway with a branch connecting to Gwadar from Ratodero?

Fuad Enver

Islamabad