THE level and frequency of interest demonstrated by the United States to oppose the flagship project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has reinforced belief of people of Pakistan that the initiative was really in the overall interest of the country and it is going to transform economy on short, medium and long terms. In fact, people of Pakistan are now weary of the uncalled criticism of the project which has nothing to do with the ground realities.
Public opinion in Pakistan is fully convinced that CPEC has already started contributing to the resolution of some of the chronic problems and challenges of the country and its fuller implementation would put Pakistan on the path of accelerated growth and progress but regrettably attempts are still being made by some foreign powers to undermine the historic initiative for reasons not digestible to people. The thaw in Pakistan-US relations has widely been welcomed by all segments of the society but unfortunately Washington is unable to digest the closeness of ties between Pakistan and China as better symbolized through CPEC. Latest example is the statement made by US official Ambassador Wells, who told a select gathering of academics and civil society representatives during her four-day visit to Pakistan that CPEC projects lacked transparency and suffered from corruption. She also repeated claim of her country that Chinese financing of CPEC projects through loans was adding to Pakistan’s debt burden. This has evoked strong response from Beijing, which not only plainly rejected the criticism of CPEC but also termed it “negative propaganda” by the US to interfere in China-Pakistan relations and CPEC. In an unusually strongly worded rejoinder, Chinese Embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday took exception to her remarks against CPEC pointing out that both China and Pakistan have repeatedly rejected similar insinuations in the past. The Embassy also represented echoed sentiments of people of Pakistan by telling Washington “We would be more than glad to see the US develop its relationship with Pakistan, but we strongly oppose the US interference in China-Pakistan relations and the CPEC.” We have been pointing out in these columns that there is marked difference between the aid provided by the United States during the last seven decades and the Chinese cooperation to help Pakistan develop in an all-round manner. Washington claims it has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan but their impact is hardly visible as most of the aid was spent on projects and programmes that had no direct relevance to the welfare of the people or resolution of their problems. As against this, China is investing heavily to help Pakistan develop its infrastructure as per modern-day requirements besides implementing projects that helped the country overcome its crippling energy shortages. Pakistan has long been urging the United States to abandon its discriminatory policies towards Pakistan and extend necessary cooperation to bridge the growing gap between supply and demand of electricity but unfortunately these requests fell on deaf ears. With Chinese assistance, Pakistan is becoming surplus in electricity generation and as a result people are heaving a sigh of relief over end of their power- related agonies. In the second phase of CPEC, the two countries are now focusing on industrial cooperation and research and development to promote agriculture which would surely lead to increased and diversified productivity as well as more opportunities for employment. As for repayment of Chinese loans is concerned, it has time and again been clarified by both sides that repayments would begin years later with Beijing giving firm assurances that it would not press Pakistan for repayments, an indication of flexibility in the schedule as per convenience of Pakistan. As also pointed out by the Embassy, international financial institutions including the Paris Club and IMF are the largest creditors of Pakistan. Loan for the CPEC is about $5.8 billion, accounting for 5.3 per cent of Pakistan’s total foreign debt, therefore, it is loan from other sources that is a crippling burden on the country’s budget. Under these circumstances, criticism of CPEC is rightly taken by people of Pakistan as an attempt to deny them of an opportunity to resolve their problems and move ahead on the path of progress and development. There is total consensus on CPEC in Pakistan, therefore, the United States should refrain from efforts to undermine the initiative for motives other than interest of Pakistan.
