Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is the economic future of Pakistan and its security will not be compromised. This statement comes after a meeting between the Pakistan Army chief and the Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing in Rawalpindi.
Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reiterated that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is economic future of #Pakistan and its security will never be compromised. He was talking to Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing in Rawalpindi. pic.twitter.com/gSUJq8OyD6
— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) September 12, 2018
The newly formed Pakistan government is looking to renegotiate the trade pact with China. The Pakistan government is also reviewing deals with China regarding the CPEC.
China and Pakistan had earlier announced that it would be extending CPEC to Afghanistan and investing $50 bn to speed up the process. The decision was made during the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent visit to Islamabad from September 7-9.
A spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry was quoted by PTI saying, "his visit was mainly aimed at exchanging views with the new government and compare notes with Pakistan on cooperation in all areas, thus making our bilateral cooperation to get off under the new circumstances."
India has repeatedly opposed the CPEC since the plan is to go through Pakistan occupied India (PoK). Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested the development plans at the cost of the sovereignty of a nation.
The CPEC will be connecting China's Xinjiang and Pakistan's Gwadar port through rail, highways and pipeline links.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan is also currently reviewing the deals for Belt and Road initiative.
The Belt and Road initiative is dubbed as the '21st-century silk-road'. Also called the Chinese Marshal Plan, China plans to create a 'belt' of roadways from the country to parts of Asia and a maritime 'road' of shipping lanes. China hopes to increase trade with this project.