Can Pakistan Reboot Its ‘Belt and Road’ Partnership With China?

[Dalit]

All said and done and all things aside, why isn't the economy reaping benefits of the multiple Billions invested by the Chinese in the past 10 years? When will CPEC start returning profit on all the investment? We were promised a much stronger economy on the back of CPEC alone and yet we are worse off then we were even 2 years ago. I have so much hope with CPEC, am I crazy to believe CPEC will rid us of all our debt eventually?

That is a fair question, but the answer is fairly simple. CPEC development is still ongoing. Once the project has completed and interlinked with others you can expect the rewards.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

CPEC success means US/India defeat.

Worth repeating.

 

[Ghost 125]

Michael Kugelman is a rabid Pakistan hater.

 

[Shah_Deu]

All said and done and all things aside, why isn't the economy reaping benefits of the multiple Billions invested by the Chinese in the past 10 years? When will CPEC start returning profit on all the investment? We were promised a much stronger economy on the back of CPEC alone and yet we are worse off then we were even 2 years ago. I have so much hope with CPEC, am I crazy to believe CPEC will rid us of all our debt eventually?

CPEC is a like a adrenalin shot for our infrastructure when our country badly needed an upgrade, it has given our country a big upgrade which was pending for decades and couldn't be carried out due to shortage of funds. But the economy we ourselves have to make stronger. CPEC makes it much more easier but it still is no magic wand. Corrections in economy show signs over a medium to long term. It is but heartening to see that the initial signs of recovery are already there. We need to be patient for this country has been robbed over decades, give the turnaround some due time.

 

[Pakistan Space Agency]

... Launched in 2015, CPEC is a logical partnership for China and Pakistan—two close allies keen to cooperate on much-needed infrastructure projects in Pakistan, while contributing to China’s strategic goal of facilitating access to far-flung markets and expanding its global footprint.

However, when Prime MInister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party took control in 2018, the Belt and Road Initiative was coming under increasingly sharp global criticism for a lack of transparency, for burdening host countries with high debts and for questionable investment practices that included excessive use of imported Chinese labor.

Resistance to CPEC emerged even in Pakistan, where public sentiment is strongly pro-China and media outlets are pressured not to criticize the high-stakes initiative. There was particularly sharp opposition from marginalized communities in underdeveloped areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces. They feared that CPEC projects would displace locals and exploit precious natural resources. Khan had also inherited a serious debt crisis from the previous government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, heightening concerns that Pakistan lacked the fiscal capacity to manage Chinese loans.

In the early weeks of its term, in the summer of 2018, Khan’s government telegraphed its own anxieties. In a revealing Financial Times interview, the prime minister’s adviser for investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, blamed the previous administration for negotiating unfairly advantageous terms for Chinese companies. “I think we should put everything on hold for a year so we can get our act together,” he stated. ...

Can Pakistan Reboot Its ‘Belt and Road’ Partnership With China?

After a series of setbacks, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a multibillion-dollar assortment of infrastructure projects that constitutes the Pakistani component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, is poised for a resurgence. Or is it? Last month, the Pakistani investigative news site...

www.worldpoliticsreview.com

Told you so.

 

[Patriot forever]

... Launched in 2015, CPEC is a logical partnership for China and Pakistan—two close allies keen to cooperate on much-needed infrastructure projects in Pakistan, while contributing to China’s strategic goal of facilitating access to far-flung markets and expanding its global footprint.

However, when Prime MInister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party took control in 2018, the Belt and Road Initiative was coming under increasingly sharp global criticism for a lack of transparency, for burdening host countries with high debts and for questionable investment practices that included excessive use of imported Chinese labor.

Resistance to CPEC emerged even in Pakistan, where public sentiment is strongly pro-China and media outlets are pressured not to criticize the high-stakes initiative. There was particularly sharp opposition from marginalized communities in underdeveloped areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces. They feared that CPEC projects would displace locals and exploit precious natural resources. Khan had also inherited a serious debt crisis from the previous government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, heightening concerns that Pakistan lacked the fiscal capacity to manage Chinese loans.

In the early weeks of its term, in the summer of 2018, Khan’s government telegraphed its own anxieties. In a revealing Financial Times interview, the prime minister’s adviser for investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, blamed the previous administration for negotiating unfairly advantageous terms for Chinese companies. “I think we should put everything on hold for a year so we can get our act together,” he stated. ...

Can Pakistan Reboot Its ‘Belt and Road’ Partnership With China?

After a series of setbacks, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a multibillion-dollar assortment of infrastructure projects that constitutes the Pakistani component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, is poised for a resurgence. Or is it? Last month, the Pakistani investigative news site...

www.worldpoliticsreview.com

Told you so.

Yes we all know which party media cell is running the campaign against CPEC.
Finally now CPEC had moved passed the black era of using CPEC for personal political and financial gains at the expense of Pakistan

The Chinese are happy Pakistanis are happy, only Plmn India and America are mourning.

 

[Dalit]

Michael Kugelman is a rabid Pakistan hater.

Yeah he is an Indian stooge. Also a deep state asset.

 

[CrazyZ]

Reading through the usual American BS one can only conclude that the US deep state is in panic mode as far as CPEC development goes. The Americans had secretly hoped that PTM and BLA proxies would halt the progress considerably to a point where Pakistan and China would be discouraged to continue. Instead, CPEC is re-energized and ready to move to new phases.

The US deep state has waged a war spanning almost two decades in neighboring Afghanistan with the sole purpose to destabilize, balkanize and denuclearize Pakistan. After almost two decades, president Trump has decided that enough is enough. This move wasn't meant to appease Pakistan, but rather to put an end to a pointless war which hasn't yielded desired outcomes. The US deep state still remains skeptical of the Taliban talks, but has little to offer in face of domestic hostility and opposition to a failed war. The US deep state believes it can turn the tide and control Pakistan as it once used to. Today, the Pakistan challenge for the US deep state has grown immensely. What was initially supposed to be a fairly simple job to subdue the Pakistan army, now seems a rather colossal undertaking. Hence the US deep state has to partner with India in order to challenge Pakistan and China. The "you are with us or against us" blackmail just has no weight. With China and Pakistan partnering up in many areas, the US is employing various propaganda techniques to undermine CPEC. From Uyghur propaganda to PTM and BLA terror support. Many PTM and BLA terrorists are seeking refuge in Western capitals. They are being groomed and nurtured to further the propaganda.

Pakistan and China need to remain wary. India and the US are the chief CPEC spoilers. Both are going to support terrorist groups such as BLA and PTM to disrupt CPEC progress. The US deep state doesn't hide its frustration and opposition against CPEC. The US deep state has a big problem with an assertive China. Since the Americans have identified CPEC as the main pilot project in the OBOR undertaking, the US deep state has every stake in disrupting the template project. CPEC success means US/India defeat.

I agree, but don't overstate it. The American's dumped Pakistan in the 90's for India largely because of India's larger economic potential. They viewed Pakistan as a failed state that they could impose their will over anyway with sticks and carrots. That has not changed in their calculus.

Obama administration actively pursued a bloc of India/Iran/Kabul that they thought would impose their will on Pakistan in the region even possibly dismembering it....they failed and USA has had to negotiate with the Taliban....not wipe them out with India/Iran/Kabul bloc that they assumed. I think they are now getting a wake up call...Pakistan is not a failed state and can have a huge impact on the region without the USA. History will show the Obama administrations actions in the ME was a disaster.

Early in CPEC's history USA did not care much. Largely because they thought Pakistan was irrelevant geopolitically without the USA. USA's shift from ME to an expanded "Indo-Pacific" was poorly thought out....especially with no peace settlement between India and Pakistan. While it would bring in India to threaten China in the strait of Malacca but that would also bring in Pakistan on the Chinese side. Pakistan gives China overland access to ME protected by a large allied army with nuclear weapons. All that quad naval scheming to strangle China would be bypassed. Not only that but Pakistani ports allow China to flip the script and threaten the Quad's oil supply lines. India and Japan are heavily reliant on ME oil supply. All this is only exacerbated by the China-Iran deal.

Pakistan must continue to strengthen and grow its economy. Its the only part of this equation that we haven't proven the USA calculas wrong. India will go through a few years of slowdown for sure after this pandemic, IMO. Pakistan must do every thing possible to expand its economy over this period.