Balochistan will get Western CPEC route. last Government and Allies just did verbal talk

[Jungibaaz]

With respect I am aware of the major share taken by energy projects. The simple reason was before you build any networks you need to sort out the [then] crippling energy deficit. But te fact is the underpining of CPEC or starting point is 'corridor'. That is China Pakistan Economic Corridor. And corridor begins with road/rail linkages. Of course there are layer on layers on top that consolidate together to form a fully mature economic zone - industry, haulage companies, banking, agriculture, insurance etc etc.

This is interesting framing, but I disagree yourself and others of like mind have been framing CPEC incorrectly as a line of infrastructure with which to facilitate trade to and from China. It's also the impression I got from your previous post. You seemed to have changed the picture here by adding that you had all the rest of the industries and purposes in mind, even energy. And this energy deficit isn't necessarily a prerequisite for building ports and roads. It is primarily a need for us, and an investment opportunity for China, which incidentally fills their needs as I have earlier pointed out.

Also, as I have said, the 51 or so initial MoUs if you read their spec, they are mostly detached from the actual corridor work. It seems to me that a multitude of investment projects in Pakistan, mostly infrastructure, are added to the CPEC umbrella for what seems more to be for branding and organisational reasons rather than direct project relevance. Go through the list of MoUs and pick out which ones are adding to that corridor we are talking about. Again, as you have implicitly conceded the majority are not directly relevant.

Whatever else may be said, at least we are partially on the same page about CPEC spanning a lot more of the Pakistani economy than just road, port, trade route infrastructure. Even the road networks you will notice are not routes necessarily, they are networks of roads, the biggest road projects are actually between major cities and not tied directly to Gwadar.

But the basic platform is provided by the road/rail networks and as @Canuck786 has done a good job of showing those planned networks around which will grow like forests - economic activity in it's multiple forms. And Nawaz's government ignored the Western route much to the consternation of the smaller provinces. Glad that will be addressed now.

I completely disagree with this branding of western and eastern routes. And the political controversy which has felt contrived from the start. The whole premise of Punjab and Sindh dominance of CPEC is nonsense when the actual portfolio projects are looked at, even when one accounts for larger populations and GDP of the aforementioned provinces.

Under the CPEC umbrella are a network of roads and railways between major cities in Pakistan. Those are the complete maps shown above. Further to this, a smaller bunch of roads are already built and being expanded connecting Gwadar and northern parts of the network to the rest. I don't see why there needs to be a fuss about eastern and western routes.

The vast majority of all of these roads along these 'routes' would be built in any case as Pakistan would developed, Gwadar and CPEC existing or not, they would have been built any way. For example, I know for a fact that the Multan to Sukkur part of the so called eastern route, has been planned and been around CDWP and ECNEC for more than 2 decades, it was not an idea conceived of the need for a route and an alignment for said route.

And Nawaz's government ignored the Western route much to the consternation of the smaller provinces. Glad that will be addressed now.

How exactly did they do that? Last I recall, and some may deny it but the Western network is due for completion before the Eastern network, that's not the previous government saying it, that's from the Chinese, despite the more immediate need being the Eastern. So please do provide me evidence as to how and why this sort of sabotage or neglect done by the previous government.

This really does get to the heart of the matter, the route alignment controversy isn't technical at all, it's a contrived political issue.

 

[Kabira]

Western route was completed few years ago. Truck from China got to Gwadar using that route, not sure what followed. Some sections of it like Zhob-DI Khan road need renovation but is still good enough if someone want to use it. PTI have dropped DI Khan-Zhob road renovation project.

 

[Jungibaaz]

Many people still think that CPEC is just a trade route through Pakistan for Chinese goods despite that vast majority of the investment is going to the energy sector and little work on upgrading Karakoram Highway, which would be a key component to become a proper route. They seem to resist and deny the idea that the purpose of CPEC and all these projects are to develop Pakistan economy and turn it into a prosperous country.

The ignorance is partially expected from politicians, as there have historically been for the most part, either partially or thoroughly incompetent people in the national assembly. The media are also monkeys without an analytical thought in their mind, it's why 24/7 they prefer to air party political bickering, and where they do divert their feeble minds to matters of import, the analysis is usually simplistic. It's what feeds this idea through to ordinary people that CPEC is somehow all about offloading goods/material in Gwadar and then sending it off to Kashgar asap, further it seems another incorrect simplification arose that the goods get there along either one of two routes. It's not so bad on PDF since we're more informed here, but CPEC is a complex portfolio of projects, simplifications aren't helpful.

Normally I wouldn't mind, but it seems that a few years back, a route alignment controversy surfaced, that when inspected it seems didn't have a leg to stand on. It was just a convenient political tool that can be effectively employed.

 

[GeraltofRivia]

The ignorance is partially expected from politicians, as there have historically been for the most part, either partially or thoroughly incompetent people in the national assembly. The media are also monkeys without an analytical thought in their mind, it's why 24/7 they prefer to air party political bickering, and where they do divert their feeble minds to matters of import, the analysis is usually simplistic. It's what feeds this idea through to ordinary people that CPEC is somehow all about offloading goods/material in Gwadar and then sending it off to Kashgar asap, further it seems another incorrect simplification arose that the goods get there along either one of two routes. It's not so bad on PDF since we're more informed here, but CPEC is a complex portfolio of projects, simplifications aren't helpful.

Normally I wouldn't mind, but it seems that a few years back, a route alignment controversy surfaced, that when inspected it seems didn't have a leg to stand on. It was just a convenient political tool that can be effectively employed.

I suppose people tend to simplify things so that they can make sense of them, which is totally understandable. If we think about it, CPEC is quite unusual in the sense that it has not been many cases in the history in which one nation poured so much money into another nation in the name of development (US’ Marshall plan is another major similar venture but it aims for Europe only, the post war rise of Japan/Korea is somewhat an unintended outcome). China has a very ambitious plan in CPEC and BRI in general. It is a project that China sees it run for multiple generations and will play key parts in determining China as well as its allies’ future. If one can only see CPEC as trade route and Pakistan’s only benefit in toll collection, then are not fully appreciate the scale of China’s plan.