Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday urged India to take benefit of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
PM Shehbaz, in a statement issued to mark the completion of 10 years of CPEC, said, “CPEC is a beautiful plan to connect not only regions and areas but also people’s hearts.”
The premier expressed the resolve to pursue the CPEC with a new vigour and commitment by focusing on areas such as agriculture, special economic zones, information technology and exploration of natural resources.
PM Shehbaz expressed the confident that the CPEC would take a new turn with the incorporation of these vital sectors.
"It is the most transparent project in which around $25.4 billion has been invested so far," he said.
The prime minister regretted that the previous government not only halted progress on the CPEC but also left no stone unturned to damage this relationship which is higher than the Himalayas.
He, however, said that the present coalition government had made sincere efforts to further strengthen the relationship with China.
"We have to learn a lot from the Chinese successes in different fields," PM Shehbaz added.
Recalling the initiation of work on the CPEC, back in 2013, the premier said this mega project transformed the landscape of Pakistan.
He said it was because of the untiring efforts of the leadership of both the countries that the projects such as coal and hydel power projects, orange line and road infrastructure were completed in record times.
The prime minister commended the unstinted support of the Chinese leadership and companies for the CPEC. He also recognized the Chinese financial support to Pakistan in recent months.
Mentioning the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) PM Shehbaz said the staff level agreement has been reached with the global lender.
He expressed the confidence that the IMF's board meeting on the 12th July would approve the agreement.
Expressing the commitment to fulfill the IMF's conditions, PM Shehbaz said that Pakistan is now fully secure and there is no threat of default.
"We will now have to focus on uplifting the country and protecting the poor people from inflation," the premir said.
In her remarks on the occasion, Chinese Charge d'Affaires Ms Pang Chunxue said the CPEC is one of the most successful projects of the Belt and Road Initiative. She said that the successes achieved under the CPEC would not have been possible without the joint efforts of the leadership of both the countries.
She said she is inspired and encouraged by the Prime Minister's commitment in promoting the CPEC.
"Pakistan and China will continue to move forward to promote the high quality development of the project," Ms Pang Chunxue said.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said CPEC is a manifestation of the vision of Chinese President Xi Jinping and our leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif under which we transformed Pakistan China relations from geo-political to geo-economics.
He said CPEC is also a manifestation of time-tested strategic cooperative partnership between the two iron brothers, Pakistan and China.
Ahsan Iqbal said that CPEC is a game changer project which will not only usher in a new era of development in Pakistan but also a project of regional connectivity.
He said today projects, being carried out under the $29 billion portfolio of CPEC, have been either completed or under the process of completion.
The minister regretted that during the past four years of the previous government, the CPEC was obstructed and baseless propaganda was fomented against Chinese companies and businessmen.
"However, we succeeded in restoring the trust of the Chinese companies and entrepreneurs during the past one year".
Ahsan Iqbal said the incumbent government, during its one year, also completed scores of projects pertaining to water and power, and maintenance of Gwadar Port which were shelved by the previous government.