The CPEC dispute

The discord over the route of the CPEC has become a bone of contention between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the centre. Balochistan wants to have the exclusive ownership of all resources on its land – including the Gwadar Port and its allied facilities. The KP government says that the shortest possible trade route should be developed – which they think is the western route – and industrial zones along the route be planned equitably, so that the benefits to be accrued from the CPEC are equally distributed between all provinces. This seems to be fair and justified.

Similarly, the demand for transparency in the execution of the CPEC has to be supported. The claim of the Balochistan government – that all resources on its soil including the Gwadar Port be its exclusive ownership – does, however, raise some problems. Natural resources and strategic projects like ports cannot be the exclusive property of any one province. Such assets and strategic resources are a national asset and the whole nation has the right to benefit from it. The place where these natural resources and projects are situated should however be given priority over the use of these resources and assets.

Akbar Jan Marwat

Islamabad