A day after a convoy carrying Chinese personnel working on East-Bay expressway project was attacked by a suicide bomber in Gwadar, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad on Saturday issued a statement urging Pakistan to take more stringent measures to protect its citizens in Pakistan.
Given recent uptick in terror attacks that resulted in casualties of Chinese citizens, the concerns expressed by Chinese friends vis-à-vis their security in Pakistan are genuine and must be addressed by ensuring a foolproof security for them.
India out of desperation and seeing its investment sinking in Afghanistan has accelerated its terror activities in Pakistan to hurt Pak-China all weather strategic partnership.
The pattern of these attacks especially the one in Dasu and then in Gwadar clearly suggests that the enemy wants to sabotage multi-billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
These terror acts are in fact attack on development of Pakistan and are taking place when Chinese companies are pouring in their investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs). We have to give confidence to investors that their investment is safe and well protected.
Ensuring security is important not only to encourage more Chinese companies to enter Pakistan but also to attract investment from other sources.
Before any other incident takes place, there is a need to completely review and further strengthen security of Chinese workers in Pakistan.
Through better coordination amongst security agencies, the machinations of the enemy should be pre-empted.
Investigation should be conducted into Gwadar suicide attack and findings be shared with Chinese government as well as international community. Those behind the attack must be exposed and given exemplary punishment.
China has always proved to be a true friend of Pakistan and despite recent despicable incidents, it has remained firm to execute CPEC related projects.
We also need to fulfil our responsibility and come up with a security cover that satisfies Chinese friends.
We are confident that both the countries will continue to pursue the course of greater coordination and cooperation in different sectors for mutual benefits.
