Senator Mushahid Hussain terms CPEC 'China’s vote of confidence in Pakistan'

LONDON: The Chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed has termed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) "China’s vote of confidence in Pakistan and its promising future."

Syed was speaking to students at a seminar at the School of Oriental and African Studies organsied by Abdurrehman Chinoy, the Co-President of Queen’s Mary Pakistan Students Society. Senator Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar also spoke on the occasion.

Syed said China reposed confidence in Pakistan and invested billions when no other country was ready to look at Pakistan and many countries were calling it a write-off case. "Today, things have changed and the naysayers are nowhere around. Now the talk has shifted to Pakistan’s legitimate position as a global and international player."

He said that Chinese investment has brought many advantages to the South Asian country. The PMLN senator said that during 2013 election campaign energy and terrorism were the main issues but these issues were not mentioned at all during 2018 elections as both issues have been resolved successfully “through a resilient fight.

“We need regional economic cooperation. Balance of power has shifted from the West to the East and 21st century is indeed the Asian century. The CPEC has resulted into geo-economic concept of cooperation. A dead port like Gwadar has been turned into a vibrant trade port and 1 million tons were lifted last year. The CPEC is important piece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Gwadar is at its centre. Pakistan is a land blessed with talent, and nature has endowed beauty and resources to Pakistan.”

The journalist-turned-politician and international relations expert said that there is glimmer of hope of peace in Afghanistan as talks between Taliban and other stake holders are progressing.

“These talks are vindication of what Pakistan has been saying for almost two decades that there is no military solution to Afghan conflict and dialogue of all stake holders is the only viable way forward.”

Syed said that India has always tried to cast Pakistan in a bad light and has shown intolerance for no reason. He recalled how India called Pakistan’s atomic bomb the “Islamic bomb” to create doubts about it in the West. The PMLN senator, who was Pakistan’s spokesman when Pakistan went nuclear, said that Nawaz Sharif resisted international pressure and decided to go ahead with the nuclear tests.

Senator Kakar spoke about Balochistan and said that the CPEC would pave way for foreign investment and help Pakistan develop into one of the greatest economies of the world. He said that Balochistan is the future of Pakistan as it offers a lot in terms of natural resources and connectivity to the region.

He told the audience that India has confessed publicly that it’s involved in acts of terrorism against Pakistan, especially inside Balcohistan and against its populace.

“India’s serving naval commander and RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested from our territory red handed. Narendra Modi on India’s Republic Day vowed to support dissidents and secessionists. It was a confessional statement coming from India of its involvement in terrorism against the sovereign state of Pakistan. The US secretary of state also confirmed that India is interfering in internal matters of Pakistan. Everyone knows about Indian involvement but due to the size of Indian economy the world is silent,” Kakar said.

Chinoy, who organised the event under the banner of Chinoy Group, said that security situation of Pakistan has greatly improved and now unanimous efforts should be made coming up with a strategy that focuses on reducing the issues faced by foreign investors.

He called on the PTI government to focus on the “ease of doing business”. Chinoy further said that on issues like CPEC and Kashmir, the whole nation stands united.