Western route of CPEC to be completed by 2018

Govt’s presentation says project investment raised to $51.5 bn; will help Pakistan attract $150 bn investment

ISLAMABAD: The western route is very much part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative that will be completed by 2018 and more importantly the $51.5 billion project is undoubtedly a game changer which will help Pakistan attract mammoth $150 billion investment, reveals the latest PowerPoint presentation of the government available with The News.

This completely negates the negative propaganda launched by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and some opposition parties that have recently hurled allegations on the government pleading that the western route does not exist in the CPEC project. 

The KP chief minister levelled such allegation by referring to his supposed discussion with Chinese ambassador in which the envoy disclosed to him (CM) that western route does not exist in the CPEC.

Though the Chinese embassy has denied it, saying that China ambassador has never said to KP chief minister that western route is not part of the CPEC project, but the CM and some other political parties are still in mode of defaming the project knowing the fact that enemy like India is already out to sabotage it.

India knows the significance of the project as it will help emerge Pakistan with new outlook on global map with sound economy. But without realising the Indian designs, some politicians are hell-bent upon making the CPEC a controversial project without knowing the facts. For more pain to India, the size of the CPEC, the presentation says, has been increased to more than $51.5 billion after China and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to lend $8 billion to upgrade the main railway line from Karachi to Peshawar.

The Chinese embassy has clearly said that on November 12, 2015, the fifth meeting of Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC approved the principle of “one corridor with multiple passages”, aiming at directly benefiting the socio-economic development of Pakistan, especially the western and north-western regions and providing effective connectivity to Gwadar Port.

The spokesman said the Monographic Study of Transport Plan, approved in 5th JCC, clearly mentions that Burhan-DI Khan-Quetta-Sorab section would provide much needed connectivity between major connection points of the CPEC and would connect the western areas of Pakistan. He said the CPEC was for Pakistan as a whole and would bring benefits to all Pakistani people including the people from the western parts.

With the joint efforts of both sides, the CPEC projects are running well throughout Pakistan, and the CPEC is being comprehensively implemented. Now after the denial by Chinese embassy, the dust should be allowed to settle down and the situation requires the political parties not to make the CPEC project, which is a gift from China, a controversial and highly politicised.

The presentation clearly says the western route will be completed by 2018 which means that the CPEC, which is really a game changer project, should not be politicised at any cost, the relevant authorities told The News pleading that the CPEC, which is also figured in the presentation, will attract mammoth investment of $150 billion.

The said projected investment will definitely help Pakistan emerge in the world map as Asian Tiger. 

Meanwhile, Harvard has already predicted that Pakistan GDP growth will continue to hover at 5.07 percent for next eight years and the CPEC project will also play pivotal role in further jacking up the GDP growth. The fact is that the federal government has allocated at least Rs49.5 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the fiscal year 2016-17 for the completion of the western route of the CPEC. An amount of Rs22 billion has been allocated for DI Khan Motorway's Burhan-Hakla section for ongoing financial year 2016-17, Rs5 billion for Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab section, Rs4 billion for Hoshab-Nag-Basima-Surba section, Rs1.1bn for DI Khan-Mughalakot section, Rs16.5 billion for Thakot-Havelian section and Rs4.6 billion has been set aside for Burhan-Havelian Expressway.