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By APD writer Imdad Hussain
Editor's note :Imdad Hussain currently works as Senior Producer and reporter at state-run Television based in Islamabad, having experience of more than 20 years in research and media in different organizations including the Ministry of Information, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, and Pakistan Television.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the true embodiment of Pakistan-China time-tested friendship. When Pakistan was isolated due to the US war against terrorism, China was the only country to express its willingness to invest in, which launched a momentous CPEC project that has proved to be a game-changer for the latter.
Originally valued at $46 billion, which is likely to go up, the CPEC is intended to rapidly upgrade Pakistan's required infrastructure and strengthen its economy by the construction of modern transportation networks, numerous energy projects, and special economic zones.
A vast network of highways and railways are to be built under the CPEC throughout the length and breadth of Pakistan. The modern transportation network will link seaports in Gwadar and Karachi with northern Pakistan, as well as areas further north in western China and Central Asia. Besides 1,100-kilometre-long motorway between Karachi and Lahore, the Karakoram Highway from Hasan Abdal to the Chinese border will be completely reconstructed and overhauled. The Karachi–Peshawar main railway line, ML One, will be upgraded to meet to requirement of the day.
In Pakistan, at the moment lots of activities are going on all around as the first phase of CPEC project has been completed with the creation of jobs, the development of infrastructure, energy production projects and Gwadar Port.
According to an estimate, the CPEC is likely to create about 575,000 direct and over one million indirect jobs in four special economic zones (SEZs) being set up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan provinces respectively.
Not only that China always stand by Pakistan in difficult time, but also has acknowledged its efforts in the anti-terrorism war, whether in manpower and material resources. Moreover, in line with the Chinese philosophy of development, the CPEC project is not against any country. Instead, it welcomes other countries to join in as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran show interests.
There is nothing wrong with the recent assertion of the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Seyyed Mohammed Ali Hosseini, who reiterated his country’s desire to become a part of the CPEC either in the bilateral or trilateral format during a speech on ‘Pak-Iran Peace and Security Cooperation’ at the Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI).
Iran definitely wants to avoid economic repression due to tough US sanctions and develop its Chabahar Port which is line with the CPEC motto of regional integration. The flourish of Gwadar and Charbahar ports would lead to immense economic activities in the region.
In the words of a senior Pakistani leader, “CPEC is being developed in a way that it cannot just be a stimulus to our economic growth but also provides Pakistan basis for regional integration, socio-economic development, interoperability, harmonized development and effective management of its resources – all of which are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The CPEC is not just an economic project; it has many civilizational, cultural, political and strategic dimensions.”
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
