Luring move: China, Pakistan try to enticed Afghanistan for joining so called ‘economic corridor’
Beijing, December 27: China and Pakistan are looking to extend the fifty-seven billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. India has opposed CPEC, which passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), on grounds that it infringes its sovereignty.
According to Afghan news outlet Pajhwok Afghan News, Yi said Beijing and Islamabad are willing to extend the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by including Kabul in it.
"The successful implementation of CPEC projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects in neighbouring countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Central and West Asia," he added.
Attending the trilateral meet here in Beijing, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Asif said the project will benefit Afghanistan and other countries in the region.
"Successful implementation of CPEC projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighbouring countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Central and West Asia."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to allay India's fear that the project was directed at it and, at the same time, warned New Delhi of not "disturbing and influencing it".
"They are willing to integrate into the regional connectivity process and they are willing to integrate into the CPEC," Hua said at the daily press conference.
Interestingly, China has also emerged as the single largest lender of money to Pakistan ever since the two countries decided to undertake the CPEC project a little more than two years back.
The CPEC project comprises a network of railways, roads and pipelines that would connect Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar in the province of Balochistan, with the Chinese city of Kashgar in landlocked Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Beijing will provide loans of Rs 168.3 bn, including Rs1.3bn as grants for the international airport and a vocational training centre in the port city of Gwadar, to Islamabad next year. Over 55 percent of the Chinese loan, or Rs 93.4 bn, is meant for the controversial orange line metro train project in Lahore.