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The government is of the view that the second phase of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be instrumental in achieving the SDGs.

However, the CPEC, in my view, had withered on the vine during the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. The most ambitious development project in the history of Pakistan, CPEC, had become rudderless until prime minister Imran Khan and his government were removed through a no-confidence vote against him. The PTI government’s sheer incompetence had harmed the pace of CPEC so much so that the project had started attracting criticism from home as well as abroad.

Many had been even describing it as a ‘mega white elephant’. The PTI government had perhaps wanted to please the West, including the US, by relegating the CPEC to one of its lowest priorities. How ironic, however, it is that the US allegedly became hostile against PTI government by replacing it with an “imported” government. It is, however, interesting to note that at no stage of its ongoing anti-government protest has PTI accused China of removing the Imran Khan-led coalition government for stunting the progress of CPEC. The second phase of CPEC has bright prospects mainly because of the fact that the PTI is no longer at the helm.

Khalid Arain (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

Comments

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TimeToMovveOn Jan 19, 2023 10:05pm
There is much ado about CPEC without actual results. 1. How exactly is Pakistan going to fund the second phase when there is no money 2. Even if China funds these projects, what are the chances that Pakistan will utilize these projects effectively to generate economic development and pay back the loans? 3. Why did China not mention anything about SEZ in the joint press release 4. Why has CPEC not even created basic economic development in Gwadar, the so called crown jewel 5. Why is Pakistan not able to pay back loans to China from Cpec first phase. 6. And most importantly, given the instability in Pakistan, if you were a chineze businessman, would you invest in Pakistan, or in India/Bangladesh/Phillipines/Vietnam. CPEC is dead. long live CPEC.
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