China tells Pakistan CPEC success depends on peaceful Pak-Afghan ties

ISLAMABAD: Two days before the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan on April 20, Beijing has asked Islamabad to upgrade the proposed plan to construct a road network under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from six to eight lane arteries extending them to Afghanistan. The success of the project depended on the access roads penetrating Afghanistan.
During his two-day (April 20-21) visit, the Chinese president will formally announce $45.649 bn investment in infrastructure, the energy, transport and rail sectors in Pakistan.
China has also asked Pakistan to ensure normal relations and increase economic ties with Afghanistan. That is why Pakistan has decided to increase the number of trade routes with Afghanistan to 16 from the existing four.
During his recent visit to Kabul, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan had raised the issue of opening of more trade routes.
Pakistan also wants to increase the economic and trade ties with the landlocked country which is why both countries may ink a free trade agreement.
A top official, privy to the development, told The News that five new trade routes would be opened in Balochistan and seven in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan and Afghanistan currently have four trade routes which include Chaman, Torkham, Ghulam Khan and Miran Shah.
Out of the existing four trade routes, the Miranshah route is non-operational because of the ongoing military operation against the militants. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have come closer to each other and it seems both are determined to flush out terrorists from their respective territories.
The CPEC is not only beneficial to Pakistan, but it will also help strengthen the regional connectivity and China, which has managed to procure the mines of billions of tonnes of iron, copper and other rare
metals in Afghanistan, wants to use the road infrastructure under the CPEC for transportation of the said metal to make products.
China wants to make inroads and increase its influence in Afghanistan by using the CPEC and for this purpose it stresses sustainable peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan. China has already taken the Taliban in Afghanistan into confidence on the agreements with Afghan authorities on costly mines and the latter have assured an olive branch no matter whoever rules Kabul. This will not only ensure the access of Pakistani products to the Central Asian markets.
China also attaches importance to peaceful relations between Pakistan and Iran in order to make CPEC a success story. It also desires to make a China city or China Town in Pakistan.
China has asked Pakistan to make Gawadar a safe city through software and hardware arrangements with fool-proof mechanism ensuring no incident of terror at the port so that it could be developed speedily.
“China is going from pillar to post to make Gawadar a viable port and to this effect it has asked the Government of Pakistan to introduce separate laws for Gawadar which are not applicable in the remaining parts of whole Pakistan.”
Chinese are geared up to first build display centers at the port wherein Chinese products will be displayed along with Pakistani products. Chinese are going to establish fisheries industry at Gawadar at the very outset.
One Chinese company is also geared up to set up a cement industry at Gawadar that will help develop special economic zones, a free zone, industrial city, and oil city. On top of that Gawadar will be made data connection corridor through a cross-border fiber optic cable that will link the port city with China.
The fiber cable will be laid down at a distance of 11,000 kilometers linking Kashgar reaching up to the western part of China.
The official said the number of Chinese people will be increased manifold by mid of this year at Gawadar to execute various projects at the port city owing to which Beijing wants Gawadar should be declared as a safe city for which the required law-making must be done along with the required infrastructure to ensure the safety of every inhabitant in Gawadar.
Some months back a Chinese delegation held a series of meetings with top functionaries of the Nawaz government and placed their assertion before them to this effect.
In response to the demands of China, Pakistan has created a China specific military division that will ensure the safety of Chinese experts and labour force to be involved in various projects under the CPEC. China, which desires to invest $45.649 in various sectors of economy, will invest $27.362 billion in three years in energy, transport infrastructure and rail sectors, has stepped up its efforts to complete nine projects at Gawadar to help develop the port commercially.
The official said $622 million projects at Gawadar include Eastbay Expressway, Gawadar International Airport, breakwaters, dredging of birthing areas and channels, infrastructure of free zones and export processing zones port related industries, necessary facilities of fresh water treatment and supply, hospital at Gawadar and technical and vocational institute at Gawadar.
The official said the said projects will be completed in three years. “The Eastbay Expressway will be completed at the cost of $123 million that will improve the road connectivity of Gawadar as Eastbay Expressway will connect Gawadar with coastal highway. Likewise, Gawadar International Airport is being built at the cost of 77 million dollars to ensure the air connectivity.”
The official said next five years were very challenging to develop Gawadar as a commercial port. The Chinese are also going to establish a hospital at Gawadar at the cost of $10 million where locals will get free of cost treatment.
In addition, China is also going to set up vocational training centers where locals will be given training for various sectors and then they will be used as human resource in various sectors of economy in the port city.
The water supply will be arranged from two dams close to Pasni, one from Shadi Dam and other from Swadi Dam. The official said under an early harvest programme in the energy sector, in next three years time till 2017, 14 projects with capacity to generate 10,400 MW electricity at the cost of $15.506 billion will be executed and operational.
He said in the road sector, the KKH-II from Raikot to Islamabad and Karachi Lahore Motorway will be constructed at the cost of $5.6 billion. However, survey for route of KKH-I from RaiKot to Khunjrab that will ultimately link up to the Kashgar is underway.
In rail sector under early harvest programme in next three years time, the expansion and reconstruction of existing line ML-1 and Havelian Dry Port will be completed at the cost of $3.690 billion. Apart from the said projects, Orange Line project for Lahore will be completed in next three years under early harvest programme at the cost of $1.6 billion. Harb-e-Ruba Economic Zone will be constructed under early harvest program.
China is also helping to install an LNG plant at Gawadar having LNG pipeline of 800 kilometers from Gawadar to Nawabshah at the cost of $3 billion under g-to-g arrangement and when the sanctions on Iran imposed by US and EU for its nuclear ambitions are over, then the same pipeline will be extended to the border of Iran from Gawadar and that pipeline will also be called IP (Iran-Pakistan) gas line.
China’s cooperation in nuclear power generation is also unique and so far it has helped set up Chashma nuclear power plant (C-1) and (C-2) and is in process of completing C-3 and C-4 with each having capacity of 325 MW of electricity. Likewise, China has also undertaken the initiative to install Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (K-2) and (K-3) with each having capacity to generate 1,000 MW electricity.