*China has sought out additional guarantees from Pakistan for a new $6billion for Main Line -1 (Ml-1) due to weakening economic position ofIslamabad, Express Tribune reported on Wednesday.*
As per the report, China has also proposed a mix of commercial andconcessional loan against Islamabad’s desire to secure the cheapest lending.
The additional guarantees issue was raise during the third joint ML-1financing committee meeting, according to an official document .
A senior Pakistani official confirmed the development saying that China didraise the issue but it did not make it part of the draft of the minutesshared with Pakistan, which is not yet being signed by both countries.
The project includes dualisation and upgrading of the 1,872km railway trackfrom Peshawar to Karachi, and it is also the part of the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC).
Read Top Stories
The purpose of raising the additional guarantees issue was getting moreclarity after Pakistan availed G-20 countries debt relief initiative, headded.
The media outlet quoting its sources within the Ministry of EconomicAffairs said that the third round of financial negotiations gave furtherclarity on the Chinese position on $6 billion lending for the $6.8 billionstrategically important ML-1 project of Pakistan Railways.
The Chinese authorities asked for additional guarantee mechanism afterIslamabad sought debt relief from G-20 countries, which was only meant forpoorest nations of the world.
