It is heartening to note that with Chinese assistance under the CPEC the railway track between Peshawar and Karachi is being doubled.The common man is happy over it because railway is a poor man’s transport.Obviously,due to financial constraint Pakistan could not have undertaken this project on its own.It would be better if the railway track between Rawalpindi and Kohat and then onwards up to Manzai via Bannu and Lakki is also doubled as the Britishers had laid down a small gauge railway track up to Manzai which we failed to maintain and look after since 1947. This track can be extended upto Quetta via Tanai also thus providing an alternative railway route to Balochistan from the rest of the country.When the goods trains would start running on these tracks the traders of various consumers good would also be able to send their merchandise on a much cheaper freight charges thus to the ultimate benefit of the consumers who in that case would be getting items of daily use on a much cheaper price.
Mr Putin was in China when our PM was there a couple of days ago.The Foreign office should have arranged his meeting with the Russian leader on the sidelines of the conference which were attended by both of them.We need to mend fences with Moscow.Tbe Russians have yet to forget the U-2 incident in which Ayub Khan had allowed an American plane to fly from an airbase near Peshawar for spying activities over the then Soviet Union.The pilot of the said plane spilled the beans when the Soviets shot his place down and arrested him alive with cameras and photos of Soviet military installation.