Obstacle to peace
PAK-China friendship has a history of seven decades, during which the two countries have gone through difficult times on various occasions but have been fully supportive of each other. The fruits of this amity can be visualized as Pak-China Economic Corridor.
CPEC is not just a project but also an attempt to further strengthen the genial relations between Pakistan and China, this project is not going unnoticed by many countries and they have been using various tactics over the years to end it.
The United States and India are at the forefront in this regard. The United States has repeatedly urged Pakistan to abandon CPEC, while India has taken the other route and is trying to sow the seeds of mistrust between the two countries.
It has sabotaged the sites of various projects of CPEC and has been carrying out terrorist acts against Chinese nationals working on the project. India wants to crack this Pak-China friendly relationship but has so far failed in all its tactics.
However, the government should expose the elements involved in such incidents so that the world can know who is obstructing the peace process in the region.
It is clear that the number of attacks on Chinese nationals has increased in recent times. Before the suicide attack in Gwadar, a bus carrying Chinese engineers was targeted.
About two weeks after the incident, a Chinese national was killed in Karachi by assailants on a motorcycle while travelling in a car.
Indian facilitators and backed terrorist groups have claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks, or the investigation has found that there is clear evidence of Indian facilitation in terrorist incidents.
It is no secret that the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are all Indian instruments and are being operated from Afghanistan, the former Afghan government, stumbling on all sorts of sincere selflessness, cooperation and sympathy from Pakistan, had made the wrong decision to make itself a breeding ground for anti-Pakistan networks all over the world.
The Afghan Taliban have assured that their territory will not be used against any other country, but the current turmoil in Afghanistan could facilitate the movement of terrorist elements, the primary responsibility of Pakistani institutions is to ensure that infiltration into Pakistan from the Afghan border is prevented and that wherever there are reports of anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan, the Taliban should be informed and reassured that action should be taken against the elements that pose a threat to Pakistan.
India’s escape from Afghanistan can be as a source of relief for Pakistan’s security, but it is the responsibility of our institutions to deal with the destructive elements on Pakistani soil.
China is our bosom friend who is not only providing financial support to Pakistan to equip it with the best resources for industrialization, infrastructure, economy and communication with the world, but it is also contributing to our development with the personnel and skills of our deserving citizens.
Pakistan’s primary responsibility is to protect these guests and development partners. The efforts of our institutions to make the Holy Land safe for Chinese citizens are commendable.
While the goal of ensuring security is not being achieved, we need to take more steps to protect Chinese citizens and take China into confidence in these efforts.
—The writer is a regular columnist, based in Lahore.
