The head of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) authority has accused the United States of sabotaging the multi-billion dollar project, Pakistan’s economic lifeline, a media report said. The ambitious CPEC was launched in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan.
Khalid Mansoor, Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on CPEC Affairs, also said that Islamabad is seeking expansion of CPEC in Afghanistan and discussed the possibility of Taliban-led Afghanistan joining the multi-billion dollar economic corridor. Is. He said there is a keen interest in developing economic connectivity with Afghanistan and other neighboring countries including Pakistan and Iran.
The CPEC aims to connect western China with the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan through a network of roads, railways and other infrastructure and development projects.
“From the perspective of the emerging geo-strategic situation, one thing is clear: the United States, backed by India, is an opponent of the CPEC. Won’t let it succeed. Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor while addressing the CPEC Summit at the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi on Saturday.
Islamabad is the seventh largest recipient of Chinese foreign development funding, with 71 projects worth USD 27.3 billion currently underway as part of the CPEC. A report in the Dawn newspaper said that many Western think tanks and commentators have termed the CPEC as an economic trap, which has already resulted in increased public debt levels and China’s excessive influence in Pakistan’s economy.
The report said the premier’s aide said that the United States and India are attempting to pull Pakistan out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) global infrastructure development plan, under which the Chinese government has been involved in nearly 70 countries. Investing heavily in
“There is no way that Pakistan should give up any of its gains. It has lit its fingers more than once in the (Western) alliance in the past,” he said, adding that his efforts to reduce China’s strategic influence in the region would fail.
Mansoor said Western powers see the CPEC as a symbol of China’s political ambition. This is why CPEC is viewed suspiciously by both the United States and Europe, they see the CEPC as a move by China to expand its political, strategic and commercial influence, Mansour said, adding that it Given that China has been able to allay that apprehension to a great extent. .
He argued that the United States is now taking stock of the economic and political consequences of withdrawing from the region. “I had a detailed discussion with the people at the US Embassy. I told him that CPEC is available to him also. They have also expressed their desire to develop some kind of partnership and see how it can be beneficial for both the countries.
Some European countries have started showing interest (in CPEC). He said that his ambassadors keep coming. He referred to fake news and negative publicity about the viability of CPEC and the pace of its progress. In terms of its scope, Phase II of CPEC is going to be an order of magnitude larger than Phase I.
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