Pak-China Corridor

The Nawaz Sharif government has put all its economic eggs in the China basket since coming into power, with the proposed Pak-China Economic Corridor the centre piece of this strategy. The corridor, which is meant to link Gwadar to Kashgar, was touted as the solution to the economic woes not just for the country but the undeveloped areas it would traverse through. Part of a $45 billion investment promised by the Chinese – mainly in the energy sector – the PML-N knows that its promise of economic uplift would be judged by the success of the corridor. The early signs are not encouraging. The problem started when the chairman of the National Highway Authority told the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that construction on the proposed route of the corridor would take $12 billion, money the government just does not have. He suggested, and the Chinese apparently agreed, that until the necessary infrastructure development took place in areas along the route it should be diverted to the existing network of motorways. This would mean changing the path of the corridor from places like Quetta, Zhob, Turbat and Dera Ismail Khan and moving it to Lahore, Multan and Hyderabad. Should this change take place – even if it is temporary – it would defeat the entire purpose of bringing economic activity to deprived areas.
The mention of this change has not been received well. In Balochistan protests were staged against what is being seen as yet another attempt by a Punjab-centric government to deprive the province of its fair share of the economic pie. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Imran Khan warned of dharnas should the change be made. The government continues to insist that the route change will be only temporary but concerns were not soothed by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s meeting with the Chinese foreign minister. The meeting was supposed to reassure everyone the corridor will soon be operational but there are justified fears. Punjab was not going to be a major part of the corridor so for the foreign minister to meet only Shahbaz is worrying. Our history of neglecting Balochistan and for the centre to take decisions on its behalf which end up only being exploitative will only add to the worries. The government needs to start treating the Pak-China Economic Corridor not just as a foreign policy issue but one which will dictate the strength of our federation.