At fourth round of Pakistan-China strategic dialogue co-chaired by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Saturday, both sides reaffirmed their abiding commitment to high quality development of multi billion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The reiteration has come at a time when both countries mark the completion of a decade of this strategic and multidimensional project under which state of the art road infrastructure was completed in Pakistan and establishment of various power plants helped the country to overcome power outages.
The strategic dialogue sent a strong message that regardless of conspiracies being hatched against this mega project, both countries are committed to take it forward for mutual benefit of their peoples. In fact this project was launched back in 2013 when no other country was ready to invest in Pakistan due to its dire security situation. By deciding to invest billions of dollars under the CPEC, China at that time proved itself a true and reliable friend of Pakistan. Even Chinese workers were attacked inside Pakistan yet work on important projects such as Dasu Hydropower was not halted. This shows matchless depth of this relationship. Because of various reasons, it was noticed that pace of the CPEC slowed down in last few years yet we expect that recent dialogue will again trigger this project with more speed.
It is a matter of satisfaction that there is now renewed focus on long delayed projects. At the press stakeout, the Chinese FM stated that they have agreed to accelerate work on upgradation of railway line from Peshawar and Karachi (ML-1) and Gwadar Port projects. Given Pakistan’s geo location, being at cross roads of South Asia and the Middle East, these two projects are of immense importance to make the country a trade hub in the region. Hurdles in the way of work initiation on ML-1 should be removed through greater level of engagement at relevant quarters. Cooperation in other sectors especially industrial, IT and agriculture also needs to be taken forward in a fast paced manner. Responsibility rests with our authorities concerned to remove all obstacles in the way of Chinese investment in the SEZs being established under the CPEC. There should not be any further delay in operationalisation of these SEZs.
However, question arises whether in current political squabbling investors including from China will turn to Pakistan. In fact our close friends are also concerned over current state of affairs. At the press talk, the Chinese FM in a soft and mild tone stated “as a good neighbour, good friend and a good partner, we sincerely hope that political forces in Pakistan will build consensus, uphold stability and more effectively address domestic and external challenges so that it could focus on growing the economy, improving people’s life and bring the country towards a fast track development and rejuvenation.” Nobody should feel offended over these remarks because these really manifests as how much China care for development and well being of the people and Pakistan. True friends are those who not only stand by you in difficult times but also point out where we are heading wrong. In fact what the Chinese FM said is the voice of the whole Pakistani nation. Qin Gang through his words has spoken hearts and minds of Pakistani people. Shared prosperity is the vision of Chinese President Xi Jin Ping and definitely he wants to see benefits of development reaching first in a country that they trust more. The fourth round of strategic dialogue has come at a time when the country is faced with immense economic challenges and finding it hard to revive the IMF programme. While Chinese side has assured to extend full financial assistance to Pakistan, which should be a matter of solace but at the same time we should start putting our own house in order. The sincere advice on part of Chinese friends should not fall on deaf ears. The political leadership while rising above their egoistic and hate based politics, should review their conduct and move forward to bring much needed stability to set the country’s direction right.
