Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif Monday claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was trying to undermine the strategic partnership between Pakistan and China.

“We will resist and reject such conspiracies, our Chinese friends should rest assured,” Shehbaz said in a tweet, adding that the people of Pakistan were shocked at such an irresponsible behaviour expressed by the PTI government vis-à-vis China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The opposition leader’s criticism comes after a report in the Financial Times claimed that Pakistan was mulling over a review of the CPEC agreement with China. The report quoted Prime Minister’s Advisor on Commerce, Industry and Textiles Abdul Razak Dawood as saying that Pakistani companies were at a disadvantage and Chinese companies were getting illegal benefits from the project.

Meanwhile, former federal minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal has also criticised the incumbent government’s reservations over the CPEC. “Any such thoughts over CPEC are disappointing as China trusted Pakistan and invested billions of dollars when no one was ready to put in even $10 in the country’s economy,” he said, adding that hundreds of thousands of people will get employment opportunities and Pakistan will become a trade hub in region once CPEC is completed.

Published in Daily Times, September 11^th 2018.