Parliamentary Committee on CPEC briefed on security measures

Islamabad: The Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was apprised on Thursday that the government had taken concrete measures to ensure foolproof security for the workforce deployed on developmental projects initiated under CPEC.

The meeting, held under the chairmanship of Member of National Assembly Sher Ali Arbab, was briefed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs, Additional Secretary Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Additional Secretary Defence, Additional Secretary Interior, Commandant of Special Protection Unit, Punjab Police, and Commandant of Special Combat Unit, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police on the single point agenda of the security of CPEC.

The meeting was told that after the Dasu incident, the government had taken a comprehensive overview of security and filled the gaps by introducing new initiatives while taking concrete measures to ensure foolproof security of CPEC projects.

The committee chairman stressed the need for pursuing policy of geo-economics in order to achieve sustainable economic growth and development in the country. Pakistan, he said, direly needed investments and businesses under CPEC.

He asked for ensuring robust security for the CPEC projects, which was of vital importance, and called upon all the authorities concerned to eliminate bottlenecks in that regard.

The committee members highlighted that standard operating procedures for security personnel at various check-posts, especially in Balochistan, should be re-evaluated. The confidence of locals in state institutions and their ownership for CPEC was mandatory to achieve the fruits of flagship project, he added.

The committee decided that in continuation of today’s meeting, another meeting would also be convened next week on the single point agenda regarding security of CPEC and also undertake visit of the new security initiatives taken by the Ministry of Interior.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Noor Alam Khan, Umar Aslam Khan, Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali, Ms Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Ms Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Zahid Akram Durrani and Muhammad Aslam Bhootani.