Gilgit-Baltistan very much part of CPEC,Mushahid tells delegation

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said on Monday Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) was very much part of the CPEC, as it was the gateway to Pakistan for China from its Xinjiang province.

He was talking to a 19-member GB Assembly delegation, representing five political parties from both the government and the opposition parties, led by speaker Fida Nashad here at the Parliament House.

At the two-hour luncheon meeting, Mushahid underlined that the CPEC was a national strategic project spanning over 15 years.The CPEC project was above any person, party, province or even the government and all provinces and regions of Pakistan would benefit from it. He said Gilgit-Baltistan had not only strategic importance but also it had tremendous economic potential for the whole region.

The hydropower resources of Gilgit-Baltistan as well as tourism could change the face of the region as well as Pakistan on the whole, he added. He said the GB provided connectivity not only to China but also to Central Asia through Tajikistan.

The delegation expressed concerns and reservations over not being included in the CPEC by the government.Senator Mushahid said the Parliamentary Committee had already taken an initiative to invite representatives of the GB government to every meeting of the committee as a special invitee after his own meeting with GB Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman.