"The CPEC has
long been seen as symbolic of Sino-Pakistan economic cooperation. It is
unlikely that China will change its supportive attitude on the CPEC in the
short term, but the increasing cost of security is becoming a big problem in
efficiently pushing forward the projects."
This is what a piece in the Global Times, official mouth
organ of China's ruling party says.
The piece clearly talks about the need to look for the Southeast
Asian opportunity with a gradual shift from CPEC to Southeast Asia. It says, "Beijing should consider giving more
attention to its economic cooperation with Southeast Asian countries. The CPEC
has long been seen as a flagship project in China's Belt and Road initiative,
but the initiative's strategic focus may need to shift gradually toward
Southeast Asia, where there is a wide infrastructure funding gap but a
relatively stable regional environment that will enable China to efficiently
push forward ventures under the Belt and Road initiative."
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC, a long term $75
billion project from Gwadar port in Balochistan to Kashgar China's Xinjiang
province, passes though many restive regions of Pakistan including
Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Balochistan.
Many terrorists groups including TTP and Al Qaeda have threatened
to attack the Chinese investments in the corridor to avenge the so-called
atrocities against Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang province. A combine of religious
groups in Gilgit Baltistan has demanded the complete removal of Pakistan's Army
from its soil. All other states than Punjab, through which the corridor passes,
are alleging that the project has been conceived in a way so as to benefit the
Punjab province only.
Add to it the international pressure that is expected to
mount in the coming days with India's proactive instance on Balochistan and PoK
now, especially after Pakistan's backstabbing. Narendra Modi gave Pakistan
ample chances to mend its ways and stop exporting terror in Jammu & Kashmir
but Pakistan didn't reciprocate and kept on fuelling terror and tension in the
state.
Balochistan has an active independence movement ongoing and
the stories of Pakistan's atrocities to crush it are slowly emerging,
especially after Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, specifically
mentioned in his Independence Day speech on August 15 that India will support
the Baloch Movement and will highlight the Pak atrocities and human rights
violations there. India, in fact, has raised Balochistan human rights
violations at UN Human Rights Council.
Simultaneously, for PoK, India has now made it clear that if
Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, then it is only about
PoK and the whole state of J&K, including PoK and Gilgit and Baltistan is
integral part of India. India, in fact, has requested China to desist from
establishing any CPEC project in PoK that is a disputed territory and in forced
Pakistani control.
So, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is not going to
have a stable regional environment in its large territory, something that is a
must for businesses to establish, survive and grow. That is the underlying
theme of this article that we can say represents the official Chinese position
here. The world knows nothing can appear in the Chinese media unless it is
cleared by the Chinese power elite and lawmakers.
How bad is the security scenario in the CPEC regions also
reflects in the fact that Pakistan has raised a Special Security Division (SSD)
of 15000 soldiers to protect some 7000 Chinese individuals and CPEC
installations that are coming up. This is when the project has just begun. The
CPEC was proposed in 2013 and an agreement between Pakistan and China was
signed in May this year. The security nightmare is only expected to grow as the
CPEC spreads in more restive regions.
The Global Times article sums it up logically, "It is unlikely to be plain sailing for
China and Pakistan in their attempts to push forward the CPEC due to challenges
such as a complex regional environment, and people in the two countries should
be prepared for potential setbacks."
©SantoshChaubey
