China says willing to promote CPEC with Pakistan

[Devil Soul]

China says willing to promote CPEC with Pakistan
By Reuters
Published: December 28, 2016
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BEIJING: China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it was willing to promote the economic corridor with Pakistan.

The statement comes after Islamabad said it would secure soft loans from China totalling around $1 billion for three road projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

A spokesperson for Pakistan’s National Highway Authority (NHA), Ashraf Zaman, told Reuters on Tuesday hopefully relevant agreement would be signed in China-Pakistan Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting this week.

Sindh CM heads to China for CPEC meeting

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said she had no details about the meeting or any financing deals to be reached, but that the economic corridor project was an important one for both countries.

“Construction of the CPEC is a cooperation framework that the two countries set up with an eye to the future development of a long-term relationship. This economic corridor construction is not only beneficial to Pakistan’s economic and social development, but can also, as part of the “One Belt, One Road” construction, promote regional connectivity and development of infrastructure construction. So we are willing to work with Pakistan to steadily push forward relevant corridor construction,” she told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing.

Under the “One Belt, One Road” programme announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, China aims to invest in infrastructure projects including railways and power grids in central, west and southern Asia, as well as Africa and Europe.

Govt anticipates $4b investment in three industrial zones along CPEC

The roads lie on the western route of CPEC, a $55 billion network of roads, rail links, power plants and other infrastructure connecting western China to Pakistan’s Arabian Sea port of Gwadar. They include roads from Raikot to Thakot, Yarik to Zhob and from Basima to Khuzdar, Zaman said, adding that the deal to finance the three roads was struck last month.

 

[khansaheeb]

The key part to this CPEC project is the high speed rail link across the Karakorum pass . Once this is accomplished and secured we can then say the project is a success.

 

[khansaheeb]

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  NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has pitched for creating a trade corridor between South Asia and Central Asia involving both India-held Kashmir and Azad Kashmir as its “nucleus”, reports said on Tuesday.
  
  They said that Ms Mufti proposed the idea on the lines of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
  
  Speaking in the disputed state’s Legislative Council, she said such a corridor between the two emerging economic hotspots would help forge a new regional cooperation, energy transformation, trade and transit.
  
  The subcontinent was historically linked to Central Asia through Kashmir and “taking advantage of its geographical location, Jammu and Kashmir could become a nucleus towards forging a new economic alliance in the region”, Ms Mufti was quoted as saying while winding up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on Governor’s Address.
  
  “The oil and gas resources of Central Asia are the nearest and most economical answers to South Asian energy needs and J&K can help foster energy cooperation in the region,” she said.
  
  “This will create favourable conditions for Jammu and Kashmir to play its natural role of connecting the two emerging economic zones and lift itself out of political and economic fragility.”
  
  She said: “Such an arrangement will supplement the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through this part of Kashmir.”
  
  The trans-Kashmir corridor, with diverse sub-corridors, Ms Mufti said, “was symbolic of relative peace, prosperity, cross-cultural and ideological fertilisation and human security until late 1940s”.
  
  India’s overland connections with its northern neighbourhood got ruptured due to partition in 1947, she said.
  
  “However, the current reopening of traditional trans-Jammu and Kashmir and trans-[Azad Kashmir] routes is strongly felt in view of the transforming geo-economic and geo-political scenarios at the regional and global levels.”
  
  She said that not only the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot Roads that have already been opened for movement of people and goods, all the traditional road links including Suchetgarh-Sialkot road, Kargil-Skardu road, Bandipora-Gurez-Gilgit road and Nowshera-Mirpur road can be and should be opened for free movement of people and goods in the region.
  
  Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2017
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