China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) got media attention on the 21st of December, 2016, when amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, Pakistan’s Lieutenant General Aamir Riaz, Commander of the Southern Command which is based in Quetta, while speaking at an award distribution ceremony at the Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters, said that India should join the CPEC along with Iran, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries and reap the benefit of the multi-billion dollar project. Two days after that China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson signalled that it was ready to consider India’s participation in the CPEC, expressing the hope the programme will not only serve the interest of China and Pakistan but also of Asia and the region as a whole. India has already expressed concern over the project that also passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
CPEC is an economic corridor comprising a collection of projects currently under construction at a cost of $51 billion. CPEC aims to facilitate trade along an overland route that connects Kashgar in China’s northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang and Gwadar in southwestern Pakistan, through the construction of a network of highways, railways, and pipelines. Infrastructure projects under the aegis of CPEC will span the length and breadth of Pakistan and Pakistan expects that the project will result in the creation of upwards of 700,000 direct jobs by 2030 and add up to 2.5 percentage points to the Pakistan’s annual economic growth. Extension of China’s ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative the corridor is intended to rapidly expand and upgrade Pakistani infrastructure, as well as deepen and broaden economic links between Pakistan and China. Proposed infrastructure projects will be financed by concessionary loans] that will be dispersed to the Government of Pakistan by the Exim Bank of China, China Development Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
China stands to gain as CPEC carves an alternative route for trade other than the South China sea, with distance reducing by 9000 km, saving transport costs and less uncertainty and risk as Pakistan is allied with China; whereas in South-east Asia China is in dispute with its neighbors. Pakistan stands to gain due to upgrade of infrastructure on the Lahore-Karachi railway helping to make exports more competitive in terms of travel time and transport costs and the development of the Pakistan’s road, air and port infrastructure to transport goods. It will remove the energy shortages which will lead to complete industrialistion of Pakistan’s economy, around 8000 Megawatts of energy will be generated.
In CPEC strategic importance for China is far deeper because of the access it allows western China to the Indian Ocean as an alternative to the Straits of Malacca. In Gwadar Chinese are building a maritime presence; and in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the Chinese territorial and military frontiers are merging. It also gives China a presence that will allow it room for immediate military and political influence in India’s neighborhood and in West Asia. CPEC is rewriting the economic geography and regional integrity of the subcontinent.
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