IN a welcome development, China and Pakistan signed an agreement on Thursday under which the former would provide a $100 million grant to the latter for rehabilitation of the strategically important N-5 (Karachi-Torkham National Highway), which would help improve road infrastructure and expand the North-South connectivity. The grant assistance is meant for repair of four sections (66 kilometres in total)) of National Highway between Hala (Matiari district) and Moro district Naushahro Feroze) in Sindh.
The agreement is reflective of addition of a new and meaningful chapter in the history of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. It assumes greater importance in view of an impression that China extends only loans and project assistance and not grants to other countries. As pointed out by Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong (on the occasion of signing ceremony), the new project of Rehabilitation of N-5 Road was the largest road project funded by Chinese grant in recent years in Pakistan. N-5 is the economic lifeline of Pakistan but unfortunately Pakistan was facing difficulties in rehabilitation of the highway which was badly damaged in 2010 floods. Some of its portions were repaired with the assistance of China but work on the remaining sections could not be undertaken due to paucity of resources.
In this backdrop, China came forward and offered grant assistance for the purpose, which would further increase the traffic capacity, while facilitating people’s travel along the route. The decision of the Chinese Government is yet another proof of its commitment to extend all possible cooperation to Pakistan to improve internal and regional connectivity. Already, a number of projects under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have been initiated that would contribute to the socio-economic development of different regions of the country. It is also worth mentioning that China is also providing grant assistance for construction of a world-class airport at Gwadar. China’s decision to extend debt relief worth $732 million under G-20 debt relief initiative and provision of loans to boost foreign exchange reserves especially in view of emergency repayment to some other countries are all manifestations of its commitment to the welfare of the people of Pakistan.
