China railway delegation calls on Sheikh Rasheed

ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Federal Minister for Railways, met the National Railway Administration (NRA), China, delegation at the Ministry of Railways on Monday.

NRA Deputy Administrator An Lusheng was heading the delegation. Both parties agreed that this government knows the importance of the CPEC and knows that Pakistan Railways (PR) is the backbone of this project.

It was decided that technical teams from both sides will do a detailed exchange on issues relating to railway relationships for two days. And later on will come out of solutions. The final report will be signed on December 25, 2018, the NRA delegation mentioned that Main Line (ML) 1 is a central infrastructure of Pakistan.

On the other hand, the federal minister for Railways said that ML 1 up-gradation should be completed swiftly. As the government is interested in up-gradation of ML 1 and 2. He further added that China is significant neighboring country for Pakistan, so the NRA and PR both are interested in mutual cooperation.

He asserted that up-gradation of ML 1 is lifeline of the CPEC. There will be no further modifications in the framework agreement between the NRA and the PR. He also mentioned that ML 2 and 3 are also important for the CPEC. Hence, China should also give importance to ML 2 and 3. Most importantly, he said that the NRA should give reasonable construction estimates to the PR. He said even the NRA should also give a lesser amount of interest rate.

The meeting was also attended by M Javed Anwar, Chairman; Farrukh Taimur Ghilzai, Secretary Railway Board; M Yusuf, DG Planning; Munawar Shah, DG Technical; and Maryam Gillani, DG operations.