Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The troubled internal politics of Pakistan has, so far, not impacted the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and the projects were progressing within the given timeframe, a well-placed source said.

“And they (the Chinese) would not let any political change in Pakistan to impact the CPEC,” the source added. “On CPEC, the Chinese are following an almost near-closed system model of project management that hardly counts a change which is external to the project,” the source maintained. “In Chinese management,” he said, “the political change even at the apex level is a factor external to a project.”

Therefore, according to the source, China was not to let any CPEC related project encounter any unnecessary delay. “They (the Chinese) are all out to complete projects including roads’ construction and other infrastructure projects irrespective of the issues haunting Pakistan politics,” he added.

“They have obtained all necessary clearances for the groundbreaking of mega projects like Gwadar Airport and Gwadar Expressway and were to launch these soon,” the source said. The source added that the work was at an extraordinary pace on the roads’ construction, essential for completing access to Gwadar from China. “In the first place, they are building missing links to existing highways and motorways eventually leading to Gwadar via both eastern and western routes to the state-of-the-art port,” the source observed.

According to the source, construction was in full swing at Thakot-Havelian and Havelian -Burhan sections of the CPEC motorway.

“From Burhan to Sheikhupura, CPEC traffic would use Peshawar-Lahore Motorway, initially, while Sheikhupura-Multan section was already under construction. Excavation work on Multan-Sukkur has also been completed and special machinery was being used on alternate basis on these sections in a cost-containing manner,” the source explained.

“You would see a lot of openings, inaugurations, and groundbreakings of CPEC related projects throughout next year,” the source said, adding that a number of sections of the CPEC motorway would be operational within 2018. “Would you believe Chinese truck vendors and other manufacturers and suppliers of goods have already started targeting customers in Pakistan?” the source said.

The source also revealed that PC-I (the Planning Commission project approval per forma) on the Gwadar Port itself contains an underlying mutual defence agreement between China and Pakistan. “That is why the deep sea port was built keeping in view its strategic placement using the natural defence of Koh-e-Batal, the Gwadar hilltop,” the source added.

Published in Daily Times, November 12^th 2017.