‘CPEC’s Western Route should pass through southern KP’

Committee of politicians from southern districts meets

ISLAMABAD: The politicians from the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have pledged to stage protests if the Western Route of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) didn’t pass through all the districts sited in the south of the province.

The KP southern districts CPEC Committee in a meeting held in Islamabad on Wednesday vowed not to accept the CPEC’s Western Route if its demand wasn’t accepted.The committee members include politicians belonging to a number of parties. Among them are PML-N’s Salim Saifullah Khan and Rehmat Salam Khattak, ANP’s Senator Afrasiab Khattak, PTI’s MNAs Col (Retd) Amirullah Marwat and Shahryar Afridi and MPA Zareen Zia Marwat, and provincial ministers Malik Qasim Khan and Shah Mohammad Wazir.

The committee opined that the CPEC was a matter of life of death for the southern districts of KP as it would herald a bright future for the coming generations.

The committee decided to knock at the doors of all stakeholders to discuss the project. They said the Indus Highway should be developed as CPEC with all the facilities as it is an important road strategically and economically. “It is the shortest route and will not only promote trade with China but also with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries,” noted the committee members.

The committee members decided to hold a press conference so that the people of southern districts should come to know about the project and the work of the committee and get ready for the possible protest campaign  if the government didn’t accept their  demand.