Altering reality

If the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, linking the Gwadar Port in Balochistan with Kashgar in the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang is indeed completed within the next three years as is the plan, the route would quite dramatically change the geo-strategic realities for the region, bringing electricity and gas into Pakistan, offering it potentially huge trade benefits and allowing China easier access to Middle Eastern and European markets. The project, finalised during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country last month, is the largest agreed on between the two nations, and would make Pakistan a far more powerful regional player. It also has the potential to benefit thousands if we can prevent major political controversy from wrapping itself around the project. The two smaller provinces, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have alleged that the route for the CPEC has been altered to benefit Sindh – and mainly Punjab, like the many extra miles added to Islamabad-Lahore Motorway years ago during the Nawaz government. The fact that the ruling party in the centre, the PML-N, also rules Punjab adds further knots to these allegations. So does the fact that its arch rival is in charge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The two provinces lying to the west also claim that Sindh and Punjab have benefitted disproportionately from development schemes in the past and that the balance needs to be fixed.
To try and ease the sparks now beginning to fly before they can turn into a full-fledged fire, the Prime Minister had on Wednesday convened an all-parties conference, at which he said certain nations – a clear hint at India – were trying to sabotage the project. Ministers explained that there were multiple routes, linking many points in the country, and that all four provincial capitals would benefit. They have also said at a spate of recent press talks that Sindh and Balochistan would be the biggest beneficiaries of power generation from the corridor, with 36 percent and 26 percent of the total production of 13,880MW going to them, respectively. All this sounds good. But given our experience from the past, notably over the Kalabagh dam, it is important to act quickly before things become too muddled and too muddied. As citizens we need to be told precisely what the CPEC will provide us and where the routes will run through. Openness and transparency is of paramount importance in a project of this scale. We must ensure that all its aspects are laid out clearly, and quickly, rather than vague comments made about routes. This is not a matter where secrecy will help.