Asghar Ali Shad
It is clear that the C-Pack project is so important that it is rightly called a “game-changer.” It may be recalled that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a collection of various infrastructure projects that have been under construction across Pakistan since 2013.
The project aims to rapidly improve Pakistan’s economic and industrial infrastructure and stabilize the country’s economy through the construction of modern transport networks, various energy projects and special economic zones.
The main objective of CPEC is to build a vast network of highways and railways that will expand the length and breadth of Pakistan. The government estimates that the loss of incompetence caused by most of Pakistan’s dilapidated transport network is 3.55% of the country’s annual GDP.
The modern transport network built under CPEC will connect the seaports of Gwadar and Karachi with North Pakistan. At the same time, it will expand northward in western China and Central Asia. Under this project, it was decided to build a 1,000 km long motorway between Karachi and Lahore, while the Karakoram Highway from Hassan Abdal to the Chinese border is being completely rebuilt and repaired.
Karachi-Peshawar main railway line is also planned to be upgraded. In addition, Pakistan’s railway network was expanded in Kashgar to connect with China’s Southern Xinjiang Railway. It should also be noted that after the completion of CPEC’s grand project, it is likely that the concessional loans will provide the 11 billion needed to modernize the transport network.
It may be recalled that the potential impact of CPEC on Pakistan is being compared with the post-World War II reconstruction “Martial Plan” launched by Japan and Germany. Pak officials expect CPEC to create more than 2.3 million jobs between 2015 and 2030 and increase the country’s annual economic growth by 2.5 percentage points. The importance and usefulness of this great project need no further introduction.
Everyone is also aware of the fact that the Delhi government is putting up all sorts of obstacles in the way of CPEC and it would not be out of place to say that they are afraid of CPEC. According to impartial observers, it is no secret that India is trying its best to sabotage the CPEC in every possible way.
And in this regard, on the one hand, the NDS in Afghanistan is being used for this purpose, and on the other hand, some elements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan are continuing an endless series of baseless propaganda against Pakistan at every level.
According to experts, every effort was made to give a certain colour to the death of a woman named Karima Baloch last month. It is a different matter that when the Canadian government made it clear that Karima Baloch’s death was completely natural and no other evidence came to light in this regard after that, the hopes of the anti-Pakistan elements were dashed.
Despite this, this vested interest group has not given up its abominable attitude and still, all its energies are being spent against Pakistan and its security agencies and some new characters have joined this Indian conspiracy in recent days.
Aqil Shah, Tariq Fateh and many other similar groups and names are playing a significant role in this abominable practice. Last month, on the occasion of Right to Self-Determination Day, several rallies and protests were held across India-occupied Kashmir despite the Indian military siege.
Besides, the Modi government’s talks with the Sikhs staging a sit-in in Delhi have once again ended inconclusively. Informed circles have told that the RAW is working on a new strategy to divert the world’s attention from all this. In this regard, the Kashmiri freedom fighters will be accused that the situation in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir is not due to such struggle for independence but due to organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Indian intelligence agencies have asked all Indian media houses to try to link Kashmir’s Hurriyat struggle with ISIS. Possibly in the coming days, there will be massive propaganda in India against the Kashmir freedom fighters in this regard.
India will try to divert the world’s attention from ISIS’s training camps in different parts of India, along with Kashmir’s struggle for independence, Delhi’s Farmer’s sit-in, Love Jihad and actions against the GuRaksha Act.
It may be recalled that even a few days ago, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India registered 21 cases related to ISIS and arrested 143 accused from five states of India. Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, the organization has now set up its network in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, etc. According to the Indian Home Ministry, ISIS is active in many parts of India under different names.
On the other hand, a spate of sexual assaults in India has exacerbated the sense of insecurity among women and the so-called “legislation” of the Indian government has failed to stop the perpetrators. And now the crime of rape by Indian citizens in other countries is also increasing alarmingly.
It may be recalled that a few years ago in Kabul, an Indian Army Brigadier was deported from Afghanistan on the charges of raping an Afghan girl. But the Indian Army and Indian courts have taken virtually no action against the accused who committed such a heinous crime.
