US, West not conspiring against CPEC: Nawaz

Says some regional powers unhappy with project; Afghanistan should realise Pakistan is its well-wisher; long power outages have decreased immensely; consensus on military courts will evolve soon

ANKARA: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Friday said he did not sense any conspiracy by the US or the West against the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) but some regional counties were unhappy with the project.

Talking to the media on the last leg of his three-day official visit to Turkey, Nawaz said instead of hatching conspiracies against Pakistan some western countries had shown interest in taking part in the CPEC project. 

He said Turkish participation in the CPEC along with Central Asian states would give a boost to the project. He said his visit to Turkey was significant in strengthening bilateral and economic prospects.

“Our future vision focuses on establishing linkages with the Central Asian republics from Khunjarab to China to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan,” he said.

Nawaz said during his meeting with the Turkish president, wide-ranging issues, including Syria, Russia, Daesh, Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and enhancing economic cooperation came under discussion.

He said major development was happening in the Turkey-Pakistan cooperation.  Holding an olive branch to Afghanistan yet another time, Nawaz announced to contribute to the building of Peshawar-Kabul Motorway.

“Pakistan has been helping Afghanistan in bringing stability and peace in that country and is still prepared to do the same.”  He reiterated that a peaceful Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan and the region.

He said though many links had been traced back to Afghanistan, Pakistan continued to favour stability of its neighbour.  “We believe in decency. Pakistan never responded to Afghan allegations in the same coin and refrained from using obnoxious language about it.” 

In lighter vein, he said: “We even didn’t respond to Imran Khan in the language he talks.” He said Afghanistan should           realise that Pakistan was its well-wisher. Feasibility work is in under way on Peshawar-Kabul motorway while over 60 percent development work has been completed on Peshawar-Jalalabad highway, he added. 

Turning to the internal situation, the prime minister said that there was a marked difference in loadshedding between 2013 and 2017.  “Long power outages have immensely decreased and the industrial sector is being provided with electricity without any outages.” 

He reminded that the motorway was built in 1998 andneeded repair after 10 years, but unfortunately no attention was given in this regard. “In 2013 we started to take care of this project. Work on 13 motorways projects is underway at a cost of Rs1100 billion.” 

To a question about irresponsible reporting by the media about the unfound terrorist blast of Thursday in Lahore, the prime minister said it was extremely positive that discussions against such irresponsible reporting had started coming from within the media, as self-accountability was the best way forward.

“We believe in maintaining good relations with all and we demonstrated this spirit of goodwill with other states and within the country as well,” he said.  The prime minister, who participated in the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) meeting here, said his government was, in particular, focusing on bringing improvement in areas of infrastructure, energy and law and order.

He urged everyone to contribute to the national progress and development. He reminded that the governments of different political parties in all the provinces were indeed a test of their performance before the public. 

He said the masses knew fully well which political party was in fact taking steps for their welfare.  To a question about the fate of military courts, the prime minister said consensus was being evolved in this regard and the decision would be taken in near future. 

"We believe in maintaining good relations with all and we have demonstrated this spirit of good will with other states and within the country as well," he said.  The prime minister said he wanted everyone to contribute towards the national progress and development.