ANP to convene APC on Economic Corridor

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan Sunday announced to convene an All Parties Conference (APC) on the reported change in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in Balochistan and urged the government to take all the political leaders into confidence on the issue.
The ANP chief welcomed the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Chinping as good omen for the country’s development, but said they won’t allow anyone change the original route of the corridor.
He was addressing a news conference after ANP’s consultative body meeting over the corridor issue at the residence of party’s senior vice-president Ghulam Ahmad Bilour here.ANP General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti, Haji Mohammad Adeel and other leaders were also present on the occasion.
Asfandyar said that China had always given preference to the road leading through central and southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so that the terrorism affected and least developed areas of the country could be brought on a par with the developed areas.
He was of the opinion that with the planned changes in the route, 70 percent of the revenue from the corridor would go to Punjab only and the remaining 30 percent would be distributed by the rest of provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan.
The Pakhtun nationalist leader said that the Pakhtun belt and Balochistan have been deprived of development and they “are still not being considered as part of the mainstream.”He said that the entire map of the corridor had been changed for vested interest.Asfandyar said that the four provinces of the country were like four brothers and they should get equal rights.
He said it was a matter of serious concern that the federal government was neglecting the federally administered tribal areas in the multi-billion dollar projects inked with China, though China was interested in developing the areas affected by terrorism and extremism.
He urged the government to take concrete measures to remove the sense of deprivation among the people of tribal areas. He said that the government should have taken all the political parties into confidence before the arrival of the Chinese president.
He said that the ANP was an ideological party and it would continue to play role defending the rights of the Pakhtuns. He said that they won’t allow anyone to usurp the rights of the province and the Pakhtuns. “We would continue to have difference of political opinions. But no compromise would be made on the rights of the Pakhtuns,” he remarked.
He said that the ANP was not opposed to foreign aid, but all the provinces should get their due rights.Asfandyar said that a delegation of ANP would hold another meeting with the Chinese ambassador and he would be apprised of the party reservations over the route.
He directed the party leadership at the district level to start a mobilisation drive about the economic corridor and the proposed changes in the route.Asfandyar Wali Khan said that they have always been labelled as traitors for the protesting over the negative steps of the rulers. “But, if fighting for the rights of the province is treason, we would continue to commit it again and again,” he stressed.
He said that the matter should be resolved with consensus and this is in the interest of the country and the nation.The ANP chief said that a mid-way should be found out for resolution of the problems faced by the country, as the stubborn attitude would harm the country and the nation.