CPEC enjoys national consensus like Kashmir and nuclear programme: Senator Mushahid Hussain

Chairman Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on Sunday said that the Chine-Pakistan Economic Corridor agreement enjoyed a national consensus on the lines of Indian-occupied Kashmir and the nuclear programme in Pakistan. 

The senator made the statement while addressing the Friends of Silk Road seminar organised by Pak-China Institute, which he heads, in Islamabad on Sunday. Syed headed the seminar attended by the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing and other dignitaries. 

Speaking to the seminar, Syed said that CPEC was a success story because of the strong and unshakeable framework of Pakistan-China relations. 

Recounting the benefits of CPEC, Mushahid Hussain said that CPEC had given a new hope and confidence to the people of Pakistan and improved the image of the country as an investment friendly destination. 

"It has revived dead projects like Gwadar port and Thar Coal Project, strengthened the Federation through physical connectivity, and given Pakistan strategic space both in regional and world politics," he added.

Syed noted that the agreement had so far provided employment to 70,000 Pakistanis, and 20,000 new scholarships for Pakistani students were in offing for the next three years. 

The senator thanked China for supporting Kashmir at United Nations and reaffirmed Pakistani support to China on the issues of Hong Kong and Taiwan, rejects foreign interference in matters pertaining to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. 

"CPEC, like Kashmir and the nuclear programme, enjoys national consensus above party lines in Pakistan," Syed was quoted as saying by The News.