By: KeerthiMohan
Pakistan wants the Gilgit-Baltistan government to ramp up security along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as it feels India has set in motion a plan to sabotage the multi-billion dollar project,
Pakistan’s interior ministry has warned the Gilgit-Baltistan’s home department of a possible terrorist attack along the CPEC route, and in a letter claimed that “India had sent 400 Muslim youngsters to Afghanistan for receiving training to be able to carry out attacks,” reported Dawn Online.
Pakistan wants the Gilgit-Baltistan government to monitor the movement of foreigners in the region and ensure security officials deployed at Karakoram Highway are on high alert to prevent any untoward incidents.
The CPEC is a series of development project linking China’s Xinjiang province and Pakistan’s Gwandar port in Balochistan. The project is part of China’s Belt and Road initiative and it has caused a lot of friction between India and China as the route of the corridor is through Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Under CPEC, a number of modernised highways and railways will be built throughout Pakistan that will aid Pakistan’s economic growth. The CPEC became partly operational in November 2016, when Chinese cargo was transported to Gwadar Port in Pakistan.
Calling the CPEC one of the most important initiatives, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan said last week the project was proof of China and Pakistan’s everlasting friendship.
“This is perhaps the most important initiative of our generation and the most visible part of the Belt and Road Initiative,” he said, according to reports.
Highlighting the importance of CPEC, Khaqan said: “CPEC, today, for Pakistan is this reality; the Gwadar port, the Gwadar Free Zone, the Eastway expressway and other projects in Gwadar.
“It is the motorways and the highways that are linking Gwadar to Khunjerab, that are linking Peshawar to Karachi. It is the modernisation of our railway system. It is the establishment of the power projects…and it is the special economic zones that will generate employment, that will create export for Pakistan and that will give prosperity to people of Pakistan.”
