ISLAMABAD – Being termed as a ‘game changer’ not only for Pakistan but theentire region ‘CPEC’ is in the process of speedy implementation, despiteall the hue and cry being raised by vested interests.
The over $45billion Chinese investment coming into this gargantuanPak-China venture has no parallel in Pak-China history of mutualcooperation. A huge investment of this magnitude has, in fact, never everbeen made before in Pakistan by any affluent country of the world. In viewof this fact CPEC will indeed be a dream come true, if successfullyexecuted.
In spite of knowing the importance of this gigantic project and themammoth contribution it, once completed, would make towards the economicgrowth of not only Pakistan but also that of the other countries of theregion detractors of this high profile project, at home and abroad, arehell bent on doing whatever they can to sabotage it.
Vested groups, political and otherwise, from within the country arecreating hurdles to retard the progress of the project. Pakistan’sever-belligerent neighbor India too, for obvious reasons, does not wantthis project to see the light of the day. As usual, India seems to bedeeply engrossed in finding ways and means to malign the project by raisingundue hue and cry.
The belligerent Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is believed to havetold the Chinese leadership, during one of his visits to China last year,that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is ‘unacceptable’ toIndia.
The Indian External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, in a news conferenceheld in the Indian Capital the same year and published in Pakistan’s printmedia, vociferously stated that Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi hasclearly told Beijing that the multibillion dollar China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor was totally unacceptable to India.
She further enunciated that the Indian government summoned the Chineseenvoy over the multibillion dollar investment in Pakistan and the Indianenvoy in Beijing had also raised the issue with the Chinese authorities.This audacious stance of India abundantly endorses the concerns expressedby Pakistan, time and again, that India is creating unrest in Balochistan,and elsewhere in the country, with the expressed intent of sabotaging CPECthat possessed every potential to be a ‘game changer’ for the region.
One only wishes had India, for once, sincerely looked beyond itsself-interest and focused on the larger interest of the region it wouldhave brought the much desired economic stability not only to Pakistan butalso to other countries of the region including India.
Yet another factor that seriously threatens CPEC is terrorism. Security ofthe Chinese nationals engaged in executing the project in different partsof the country is also a cause for major concern.
Fortunately, this extremely vital issue is being well taken care of by thegallant Pakistan Army which has pledged to provide fool-proof security tothe Chinese workforce working on different segments of the project atdifferent locations.
Pakistan Army has raised a Special Security Division (SSD) for the securityof the CPEC. It is indeed satisfying to note that the country’s securityforces were fully aware of all campaigns against the Corridor and are fullyprepared to pay any price to turn the long-cherished dream of theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into reality.
CPEC, once completed, will turn out to be a game changer for the entireregion. Unambiguously, it possesses all the potential to transform the lifeof the people of our part of the world as well as the people of the regionand beyond.
It is extremely vital that the political forces in the country makeconscious and concerted efforts not to politicize this project forpolitical gains. They should rise above personal gains and ensure smoothimplementation of this project for the collective benefit of this nation.
They should realize that CPEC is an opportunity in centuries andout-and-out endeavors should be made to avail this great opportunity, byall means and under all circumstances. Cohesion in thought and action,vis-à-vis CPEC, of people belonging to every stratum of the society,including the leaders, within the country is the only way through which theill-intent of the outside forces unremittingly operating against theproject can be effectively countered.
To avoid controversies and ensure that all the provinces of the countrywhich are the potential beneficiaries of the project are on the same page,those at the helm in the government and are currently the principalexecutor of the project should make certain that no injustice is done anddue share of the provinces with regard to the project is duly given to them.
By: Fazal Elahi