Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Thursday accepted the invitation by Balochistan National Party (BNP) Chief Sardar Akhter Mengal to participate in an All-Parties' Conference (APC) on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Speaking at a press conference along with PTI chairman Imran Khan and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mengal said that his party has convened an APC after the government sidelined Balochistan while taking crucial decisions regarding CPEC and building Gwadar port city.
He said that the government should give right to people over their provincial resources. "China has decided to invest $46 billion but our government is yet to share the details of the investment and where they are going to invest it," Mengal said. "We are told that around $6 billion will be spent on infrastructure and development while $40 billion will be in the form of private investment. But we were neither given details about these investments, nor were we told where they are developing economic or industrial zones," he added.
Mengal said that his party has convened an APC on CPEC projects, as the government is not giving any importance to the smaller provinces such as Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which will be resisted tooth and nail. "We're thankful that Imran Khan has accepted our invitation. We'll also invite other political parties to participate so that we can give a collective message to the government that any change in the western route to benefit a particular province will not be acceptable," he maintained.
He said that Balochistan, the most resource-rich province of Pakistan, appears to have been attracting the attention of foreign predators, usurpers and imperialistic powers that intend to expand their influence in the region to gain control of its minerals and other economic resources.
"We, the people of Balochistan whether Pakhtun, Hazara or Baloch, want that we must not be deprived of our lands and we want the ownership of our lands," he maintained. He said that CPEC was meant to develop Gwadar into an international port with the future plan to link it with Kashgar in China, adding the government is now trying to sabotage CPEC, as people at the helm of affairs are intentionally opposing it.
Imran Khan said that the economic corridor will provide Pakistan with much-needed economic infrastructure, especially power generation plants, adding any change in the western route will not be accepted as it will deprive the smaller provinces of their rights. He said that China did not gift CPEC to Pakistan as it wanted to develop its most backward province through this project, adding the government must not make any changes in the western route as smaller and backward provinces should be its top priority.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has passed a unanimous resolution against changing western route of CPEC. The resolution, which was also voted by PML-N member, he added, warned that any changes in the western route would not be acceptable. "We've the similar concerns like Mengal on CPEC...we're going to participate in the APC and we'll decide our future line of action if the government does not make it clear what it is going to do with the smaller provinces," he added.
KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that through a unanimous resolution, we have made it clear to the government that all disputes in the project should be solved and the route should be the one announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on May 28. Khattak said that only motorways are not acceptable as gas pipeline, railway, LNG and fibre should be added along with the motorway on the western route. "Building just motorways is not the solution as we ourselves can build such motorways," he added.
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