ISLAMABAD, April 22: China has categorically rejected suggestions that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has any hidden military designs.
The economic corridor is a multi-billion dollar project between China and Pakistan, as Beijing plans to build ports, highways, motorways, railways and power plants throughout Pakistan as part of the mega initiative.
The expansion and operations of the deep-sea port of Gwadar, located in the south of Pakistan on the Arabian Sea, is at the heart of the $63 billion project. The strategically located port is operated by a Chinese company.
China has positioned CPEC as the flagship project of its $1-trillion global Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I want to make it very clear, BRI initiative and with CPEC under it, it’s purely a commercial development project. We don’t have any kind of military or strategic design for that,” Chinese ambassador to Islamabad Yao Jing told.
The Chinese diplomat urged the United States and India to “come to the CPEC project” and “witness the progress on the ground” for themselves, saying it will enable them overcome misunderstandings related to the project. “There are some kind of doubts that may be there are some things hidden in it. I think that when you have an objective lens to look at this project and to come to the ground to find this progress on the ground then you may have a better understanding of what we are doing here,” said Jing. – DNA
