Srinagar: The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a collection of infrastructure projects worth around $46 billion meant to deepen economic ties between China and Pakistan. The CPEC connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Baluchistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of China’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan asserted that his government would complete the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at “any cost” as the USD 60 billion project which is a manifestation of the all-weather friendship between the two countries.
The CPEC is a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Maritime Silk Road projects, two development plans that seek to deepen Mainland China’s economic cooperation with a number of Asian and European countries. . It was launched in 2015 and passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Baluchistan.
Pertinently, the CPEChas been facing a lot of criticisms like finances, trade imbalances, and opposition from Baloch nationalists, concerns of residents near Gwadar Port and the resistance of local actors whom this rollout may directly impact. A resolution was even passed against the CPEC by the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which the projects are to be constructed. (Kashmir Glacier)
