Xi wants CPEC fast-tracked

By Gaurav Sharma

Beijing, May 13 (IANS) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and stressed the need to speed up the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The meeting took place as Sharif is in Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum, which India appears likely to skip in opposition to the CPEC, which passes through Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

According to Chinese state media, Xi said the long-term planning of the corridor should be completed as soon as possible and cooperation programmes covering energy, transportation infrastructure and people's livelihoods should be promoted and carried out.

The multi-dollar economic route connects China's Kashgar Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gwadar port in restive Balochistan. China in the past too has complained to Pakistan about the tardy progress of the CPEC, which is a key artery of China's Belt and Road project, but firmly opposed by India as it claims the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir through which the route passes.

However, China, the sponsor of the project, has paid no heed to India's repeated objections.

"The supplementary projects in and around Pakistan's Gwadar Port should be steadily advanced and the study on the construction of industrial parks along the corridor facilitated," Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

"The two sides should not only continue high-level exchanges, but increase interactions between governments, legislative bodies, and political parties," he added.

Sharif said the traditional friendship between Pakistan and China is solid, stressing that it is a national consensus to deepen ties with China and participate in cooperation on the Belt and Road construction.

Pakistan is willing to work with China in actively implementing various projects related to the corridor and steadily pushing forward the cooperation on energy and infrastructure construction, including the Gwadar Port programme, he said.