Guys!!! Is Pakistan in trouble regarding CPEC? Iran offers China

[C130]

Well thats a real wild stretch of imagination and defies what we call common sense and logic.
The proposed route wont only increase the distance three times but the transportation costs as well and isnt safe any more than Pakistan.

Besides its not only about money always China wants a stable and prosperous Pakistan to keep India in check which wont be possible with Iran as she shares cozy relation with India.

Btw the more countries you involve the more trouble you are asking for while China-Pak corridor gets China in one go straight into Arabia sea though I personally strongly support China should help Iran in building Chabahar instead of India and Pakistan and Iran should link these ports by train and ferry service.

China does not see India as a threat


China is about $$ it's all about business. the same route could serve as oil/gas pipeline to China as well

 

[Nefarious]

Before putting up the tens of billions,All these options would have been considered by China.

The best one was obviously pursued.

 

[RescueRanger]

China mulling trade route with Iran as Pak leadership bickers

National
15 hours ago BY Mian Abrar

• Iranian president says there’s only 36km difference between Gwadar and Chabahar Port; Iran would provide safer route to Chinese shipments

• Ahsan Iqbal says Chinese investors might opt for other countries if Pakistan fails to resolve domestic issues

While political parties and provincial governments continue to squabble for a bigger pie of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China is seriously mulling a new trade route linking Xinjiang province with Iran’s Chabahar Port bypassing Pakistan, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.

During the recent landmark visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran, the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation including in fossil and renewable energy, transportation, railways, ports, industry, commerce and services.

China, along with the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Russia, was among the countries that reached the agreement with Iran in July to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for ending international sanctions.

Media reports said China has committed an immediate injection of $51 billion into Iran, vowing to enhance bilateral trade to the tone of $600 billion in the next 10 years. This would almost match China’s immediate investment in Pakistan under the ambitious CPEC project.

A well-placed source in the federal government told Pakistan Today that intelligence reports submitted to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have warned him about the offer made by Iran.

“During the meeting with President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asked his Chinese counterpart to adopt Chabahar Port rather than Gwadar which would be linked to a secure, beneficial trade route including a pipeline linking Iran and China,” the source said.

“The Iranian president said that there was a difference of only 36 kilometres between Gwadar and Chabahar but Iran would provide a route to Chinese shipments that was safer than Pakistan,” the source added.

The source said that the Iranian leadership gave President Xi Jinping a detailed briefing on its offer, detailing various possible routes from China to Chabahar.

“Moreover, Iran offered provide complete national unity and harmony unlike Pakistan where trade route is unsafe and it also lacks national unity,” the source quoted the intelligence reports.

The source said that national harmony and unity are two words very near and dear to the heart of the Chinese government and it is already concerned about the prospects of the CPEC due to instability and the scourge of terrorism that poses a major threat to the economic corridor.

It is pertinent to mention here that political bickering is increasing among the four provinces of Pakistan. Politicians are all trying to get major chunk out of the CPEC funding. Observers and analysts blame mishandling by the federal government for widespread concern over what they call an uneven distribution of resources among the four provinces.

According to the plan, not only has the Punjab government won the trade route, a major chunk of development and energy projects are being established in central Punjab, which have triggered a debate over the route.

“The Chinese government is largely concerned over the handling of the CPEC. They are unhappy over the fact that the federal and Punjab governments are only interested in energy projects, which the Sharif family wants to be completed before time. But no focus is being laid over the route construction and evolving harmony and unity over the trade route,” the source said.

The source added that China had already completed its part of the trade corridor but Pakistani government was way behind vis-à-vis completion of trade route on its side of the border.

The source said even the military leadership was also unhappy with the handling of the CPEC by the federal government.

“Everything in CPEC is being handled by the close relatives of the prime minister. Even federal ministers are kept out of the loop,” the source said, adding that it was a major reason that while the chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh were asking for more shares, none of the federal ministers known for their strong loyalty to Sharifs come forward to defend the CPEC.

When contacted, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that Iran had already shared its plans for establishing its own corridor with China.

“Yes, they are working on it. In his recent visit to Islamabad, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had also informed Pakistan about his government’s plans to develop a trade corridor linking Iran and China,” he added.

Iqbal said it was a world of competition and every country has the right to vie for its own advantages.

Asked whether the government feels threatened by the growing interest of China in the Iranian corridor, Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan does not feel threatened by Chabahar Port.

“Look, Gwadar provides the best solution to trade ambitions of China. But we have to resolve our problems very fast. Our politicians need to understand that if we keep fighting on shares, entire Pakistan can lose the benefits of CPEC,” he added.

Asked whether there were any chances that China might scrap CPEC for Chabahar, Ahsan Iqbal said China was a time-tested friend and it would never leave Pakistan in the lurch.

“The Chinese government would never leave Pakistan. But if we don’t resolve our differences, Chinese investors might opt for other countries rather than investing in Pakistan,” he added.

Tong Liang, a Chinese journalist based in Islamabad and covering the CPEC, was also of the opinion that there is no alternative to CPEC for Chinese government.

‎”Without any claim of authority as representing a Chinese official, I believe that no alternative of CPEC can be found. CPEC is not a transit corridor that can be replaced by any route that reaches the sea, it is an economic corridor that aims at boosting Pakistan’s development as a modern and industrialised country,” Tong said.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/201...de-route-with-iran-as-pak-leadership-bickers/

All Pakistani members and Chinese members!!! Your thoughts on this??? Not trying to influence any of your say but in my opinion, Iran can never be true friend of Pakistan...if others can tag some senior members on this thread, it would be very kind of them so that we can have their opinion on this

CPEC has already started, although I am very disappointed with the KP government's responses on this issue lately.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

No.

China has a direct land border to Pakistan. We don't have a direct land border with Iran.

CPEC has already been started, Gwadar has already been started. It's a done deal.



This seems like bad journalism.

Maybe this "well-placed source in the federal government" can explain how this can work when China and Iran don't even share a land border.

THIS!!!!!!!..........POTM

Also, even though sanctions on Iran have been lifted for now and the joint american/israeli attack on Iran has been postponed, having a CPEC-like route through Iran could be potentially catastrophic and financially crippling to China especially when the americans/israelis eventually do attack Iran. It would put China in direct conflict with america and israel and put China's energy needs at complete risk.

 

[PaklovesTurkiye]

CPEC has already started, although I am very disappointed with the KP government's responses on this issue lately.

But now there is no issue at all. Everyone in Pakistan even those who are arguing on different route know how damn important it is for both countries. We all are ready to brace ourselves up for completing this engineering marvel.

 

[That Guy]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ee-to-expand-trade-to-600-billion-in-a-decade


money talks. China stands to gain a lot more with Iran than Pakistan.

Trade with Iran is not the same as having access to Iran's ports. What Iran is suggesting, either China would have to completely bypass Afghanistan, or go through it, increasing costs (both ways), completely missing the point of such a project to begin with.

Not to mention, If China goes through Afghanistan, it'll be FAR more dangerous for them. At least Pakistan is cleaning up the mess in it's country (it's slow, but it is happening), Afghanistan can't say the same.

Pakistan offers a direct route to Pakistan's ports, both Karachi and Gwadar...

Plus, the Chinese have other motives, such as stabilizing their western border. As long as Pakistan is deal with an insurgency, terrorism will be a concern for China. This is one of the biggest reasons why China is investing so heavily in Pakistan, and in particular Baluchistan.

No, this article is dumb. Trade with Iran doesn't equate to access to ports of Iran. Besides, a lot of the work is already on it's way to completion, why would the Chinese stop half way?

[Edit]: Another few things I would like to add...

First, India is already heavily involved with Chabahar, which is a put off for China.

Next, this part of the article pretty much negates everything previously said within the article...

Asked whether there were any chances that China might scrap CPEC for Chabahar, Ahsan Iqbal said China was a time-tested friend and it would never leave Pakistan in the lurch.

“The Chinese government would never leave Pakistan. But if we don’t resolve our differences, Chinese investors might opt for other countries rather than investing in Pakistan,” he added.

Tong Liang, a Chinese journalist based in Islamabad and covering the CPEC, was also of the opinion that there is no alternative to CPEC for Chinese government.

‎”Without any claim of authority as representing a Chinese official, I believe that no alternative of CPEC can be found. CPEC is not a transit corridor that can be replaced by any route that reaches the sea, it is an economic corridor that aims at boosting Pakistan’s development as a modern and industrialised country,” Tong said.

Source: https://defence.pk/threads/guys-is-...-cpec-iran-offers-china.420151/#ixzz3yojLyNvO

[Edit 2]: As for trade volume and value. The deal between Iran and China is for the next 10 to 25 years. Pakistan is set to out pace Iran's economy within the next 35 years, and completely dwarf Iran's economy within the next 50 to 60 years. If there is one thing the Chinese are good at, it's looking ahead. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/the-economy/assets/world-in-2050-february-2015.pdf

 

[PaklovesTurkiye]

@Viper0011. Your thoughts, sir?

 

[Who.Cares]

obviously the route will have to go through multiple countries, but I wouldn't see this as a negative. this means China can built inroads into these countries!! economically and politically.

Nice work in the MS Paint but China is building this route to cut time and in case of India blocking its route.By going your MS Paint route they have to deal with 4 countries. (CPEC another advantage to China is that it will be able to bypass the Strait of Malacca. As of now, 60 percent of China's imported oil comes from the Middle East, and 80 percent of that is transported to China through this strait, the dangerous, piracy-rife maritime route through the South China, East China, and Yellow Seas.)

 

[Genghis khan1]

China does not see India as a threat


China is about $$ it's all about business. the same route could serve as oil/gas pipeline to China as well

It actually do, India is buy all the fancy US equipment on the pretext of countering China in the region. Indian news is all about Pakistan this, China that. Chinese are not naive. They know well if things go bad in south china sea, Indian will gladly jump the anti-china train. Chinese want to keep India busy by helping Pakistan maintaining a credible defence.

 

[Goenitz]

plus its not as simple as drawing line on maps.. Pakistan has many populous cities along CPEC.. So its just not a link but linking major cities thus enhancing national/international consumption, production, factories etc along route...the proposed area of Iran is barren... it doesn't include even tehran..plus Iran is not a Grand market ..
@C130
however with Iran at back, balochistan can be stabilized and inland route may extend to Turkey and thus to EUROPE...

 

[Albatross]

China does not see India as a threat


China is about $$ it's all about business. the same route could serve as oil/gas pipeline to China as well

You are right about dollars and pipelines and thats what will go through Pakistan along with Road and Rail track.

But considering india not a threat is wrong for a starter 62 is a live example and now we all have witnessed how India is being shifted from Russian lap to US lap by the US power politics and the only reason is US wants India to be the proxy against China . Indians also feel good and proud when they are compared with China as a competitor in any field and if you see India media you will see how much they are against China . As per them India has only two enemies first Pakistan and then China.

As for dollars are concerned thats a parallel world and at the moment its India who doesnt want to engage China militarily and wants economical relations to grow as she wants to remain in business in both Afghanistan and Iran whch wont be easy without Chinese approval and Chinese understands this too and I dont think will agree to any bigger Indian role in these countries.

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

“The Chinese government is largely concerned over the handling of the CPEC. They are unhappy over the fact that the federal and Punjab governments are only interested in energy projects, which the Sharif family wants to be completed before time. But no focus is being laid over the route construction and evolving harmony and unity over the trade route,” the source said.


This statement above is enough to prove how lies are being used to deceive people in this article.Power projects are the foundation of the CPEC initiative not something Nawaz asking for.They come before any other major infrastructure development , you cant have any industrial parks if you dont have enough energy to power them(power projects),

Besides ,if Iran wants a corridor with China they have all the right , i say good for them. Its just that the transit fees would be several times high on their route considering the number of countries involved (Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan,Kazakhistan,Russia) as compared to sending the same through Pakistan.
Secondly,Turkmenistan already has energy deals with China.The Turkmenistan-China pipeline, the world’s longest natural gas pipeline a part of which is already complete. A question would be why would China go further down towards Iran for something it can get from Turkmenistan or even Uzbekistan, so the answer is China would keep its options open to get clean energy from anywhere but only tap it accordingly as per time; Chinese are also concerned what would be the future of such a route if Iran is stamped with new sanctions for XYZ reason.

Lastly people tend to forget that China is not investing in Pakistan just to reach Gwadar but there are bigger prospects they see, they want the Indian hegemony checked in the region and for that they are investing in Pakistan big time.Pakistan also serves as a buffer state for China to stop India from developing regional connectivity (something essential to expand an economy) of routes and pipelines towards Central Asia and Iran

 

[SQ8]

But no focus is being laid over the route construction and evolving harmony and unity over the trade route,” the source said.

A country created artificially by englishmen in suits sitting in London cannot have harmony and unity because the people living in it haven't gotten accustomed to each other in 60 years.

 

[Genghis khan1]

obviously the route will have to go through multiple countries, but I wouldn't see this as a negative. this means China can built inroads into these countries!! economically and politically.

Not gonna happen. Way longer route. Paying 4 vs 1 country. 4 countries aren't reliable enough, anyone can be influenced by international powers easily. Most of these central Asian countries are unstable and corrupt. There is a small scale insurgency in Baloch area of Iran of Baloch and Sunnis. Which Iran blames on Pakistan and CIA. So very unlikely. Nice try by Iran tho.

 

[Green Angel]

PAKISTAN'S BIGGEST ENEMIES :

1- PAKISTANI POLITICIANS.
2- DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM.
3- CORRUPTION.

THREE PROBLEMS ONE SOLUTION.