India shaken by Chinese investment, says Sethi

Describing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a game changer which serves the interests of both countries, senior analyst Najam Sethi on Sunday said there was no loan in the Chinese investment.
Beijing had established a separate bank for the venture to fund the companies setting up the projects, meaning that it was a direct investment but with some conditions, he added.
Expressing his views in Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’, Sethi said the conditions included 18 per cent profit linked to US dollar on investment, while Pakistan would also make 20 per cent investment. The government would guarantee that the projects would never be shut down and only Chinese companies could participate in the bidding process, he added.
According to Sethi, three to four Chinese entities, as per the Pepra rules, are appearing in biding of which only one is of any worth. Transparency is lacking in these projects, but one cannot press for that when the country is getting $46 billion in investment. There must be some give and take but there is no proof about that.
The economic corridor is a huge success for Pakistan as no country is ready to invest such a large amount, while China has made commitment for the next 15 years.
The MoU on the venture was signed in May 2013 when Asif Ali Zardari was the president. Pakistan has political and economic interests with the energy crisis being the main focus and Nawaz Sharif knows he can win the next polls if the challenge is overcome with employment opportunities also being generated.
Sethi said the impression that the CPEC would not pass through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan was wrong and venture was planned to be completed in three phases. The government had developed four alternative corridors, he said, adding that the motorway would be constructed through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan but in the later stage, he added.
He said China wanted to link Kashgar with Gwadar and to also connect that route with Afghanistan and Central Asia because of energy resources and raw material available there. He added that Pakistan had become centre of all the international projects of Chinese. “There was a time we considered ourselves a gateway to Central Asia. Now, China will materialise our dream.”
According to Sethi, the trust shown by China has given a message to the world, especially Afghanistan and India, about its firm believe in Pakistan’s security and future, as Beijing cannot expand its global outreach without Pakistan. The Chinese investment has shaken India.
There will be many stakeholders in the CPEC. The first is Pakistan - its military establishment and civil society - and then Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe. It will also be a signal to the Saarc countries, which are currently revolving around India, that the real economic powerhouse is China. Resultantly, these countries too will also develop economic relations with China.
He made it clear that the CPEC was a mutual partnership, not exploitation of Pakistan. “Unlike the US, China isn’t an imperialist power” and was the only country that made direct investment, he said, adding that there too many long-term benefits of the CPEC.
According to Sethi, the PPP no more has any national role now. Pakistan needs the PPP and Asif Ali Zardari has realised that he can make a comeback but the method chosen by him - seniors running the government and the juniors managing the party - can cause hurt some people. It is the reason why the performance of the party’s government is poor. Only performance can attract the youth. The dispute between Zardari and Bilawal was over his politics and administration.