CPEC’s second phase to unveil record development, economic uplift in Pakistan: Mushahid

Abdullah Jan

Islamabad: Chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Defence, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Wednesday said Pakistan is on the right side of history by standing with China as the game changer China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s second phase will unveil record development and economic uplift in the country.

He was addressing the 8th CPEC Media Forum jointly organized by the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) and the China Economic Net under the theme of ‘Next decade of CPEC: Opportunities & learning from the past decade. The caretaker minister for Information was the chief guest on the occasion who also addressed the forum.

Senator Mushahid said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has emerged as the most important development initiative of the 21st century. “BRI is a new platform, a new path to development, and a new framework for international cooperation of planning, building, and benefiting together for an open, inclusive, and interconnected world that is the key element,” he said.

The Senator who is also the chairman of the PCI said the BRI was all about openness, inclusivity, and connectivity. Under the BRI’s CPEC initiative, a total of $26 billion was devoted to investments, 236,000 jobs were generated, 8,000 megawatts of electricity were produced, and around 510 kilometers of roads and highways were built under the CPEC projects.

“There are 28,000 Pakistani students in China and 8,000 of them are doing their doctorate degrees in China which is very important,” he added.

Senator Mushahid said under the second phase of CPEC, the country was focusing on the Main Line-1 (ML-1) upgradation and dualization of the railway infrastructure from Karachi to Peshawar, an 1,872-kilometer railway route.

He added that this would be the biggest transformation in Pakistan’s railway infrastructure since independence. The second important aspect, he said was the special economic zones and relocation of Chinese industry and the third one which is already underway was agriculture cooperation.

“Agriculture is a key element in the whole Pakistan-China framework with new irrigation technology. Pakistan is facing an issue in its Cholistan region that has a lot of deserts like Xinjiang where China will provide technology to have multiple crops being harvested there,” he added.

He underscored the need to debunk the disinformation, fake news, and propaganda encircling the CPEC project. “There are two crossing narratives, one from the west led by the United States and the other from China. In the last 10 years, China invested over a trillion dollars in the BRI’s 3000 projects, lifting 40 million masses out of poverty in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the last 20 years, in the so-called war and terror, the United States squandered 6.5 trillion dollars fighting wars in Pakistan and Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. These are not my figures but of Brown University in Rhode Island the USA,” he said.

“For us, it’s very clear, we stand on the right side of history, and we stand with China because China stands with Pakistan on all of its core interests, and then the key element is a mutually beneficial relationship,” he added.

He quoted the verses of the poet of the East, Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal saying, “See the sun rising in the east and the springs of hope are emanating from the Himalayas and the great Chinese nation is rising from slumber.”

He alluded to the 90-year-old prediction of Allama Iqbal about the Asian century, China’s peaceful rise, and the shift of the global balance of economic and political power from the West to the East.

“We must build a new tomorrow for Asia for amenities where issues are resolved whether it’s the issue of occupied Kashmir or the issue of Occupation of Palestine. We reject all occupations, all violations of the United Nations charter and UN resolutions and let us together with China with the Asian friends built the better tomorrow with no overlords and no underdogs left,” he said.

Chinese Ambassador, Ambassador Jiang Zaidong extended his gratitude to the PCI, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, China Economic Net and Economic Daily, China for holding the 8th CPEC Media Forum. He also thanked the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong for his congratulatory letter expressing felicitations and well wishes to the two nations on the 8th iteration of the forum and the success of the CPEC and BRI.

He lauded Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed’s remarks, “Pakistan is standing at the right side of history and supporting China embodies our all-weather strategic friendship.”

He mentioned the Chinese National Buruea of Statistics’ latest data indicating the Chinese economy growing and thriving owing to its primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, consumption, investment, exports, innovative and hi-tech manufacturing potential.

The Chinese envoy noted that the CPEC would also focus on increasing the livelihood initiatives for the local masses as during his recent visit to Gwadar, he was informed that the Chinese were establishing desalination plants, and hospitals and working on providing households in Gwadar to get 10,000 solar lights.

“I drank a bottle of water from a desalination plant and told Prime Minister Kakar that it’s sweet and it is the taste of our bilateral friendship,” he added.

Ambassador Zaidong said bilateral cooperation promoted a conducive environment for media cooperation which should be fostered to counter the external forces bad-mouthing about CPEC, adding, “We will have to realize that if we lose discourse power then we will be bashed and lose the game.”

Pakistani Ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi through videolink said the celebration of the decade of CPEC initiative and the 8th CPEC Media Forum was a stock-taking exercise and a reflection exercise as the two nations transitioned into the second case of CPEC.

He added that it was also the occasion to recognize our accomplishments review the lessons that were learned and chart a path that shaped the future for our people.

“The China-Pakistan relationship is unique and founded on a high level of trust, mutual respect, and need to support sharing interests. This iron-clad relationship has been nurtured by successive generations of our people and all leaders and this partnership has withstood the test of times and geopolitical headways and at least occasionally this relationship has come stronger and has emerged more resilient,” he added.

CPEC, he said symbolizes the combined efforts of the two countries to bring together their economic and trade ties at par with their proposed critical partnership, and its the financial project road initiative that emerged as a catalyst for connectivity.

Executive Director, PCI, Mustafa Hyder Sayed in his opening remarks welcomed the students from Gwadar University, Gwadar Balochistan for attending the forum as special guests along with other guests on the occasion.

The CPEC, he said was very important and this cooperation was not only about brick and mortar which was of course a game changer for Pakistan’s economy since the investment but at the heart the very foundation of this was rooted in the people-to-people goodwill and friendship.

He shed light on the significance of the 8th CPEC Media Forum and the important themes in the aftermath of environment-friendly and carbon neutrality-related aspects of the economic pathway initiative.

The President of China Economic Net read out the congratulatory message from the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Sun Weidong. The Economic Daily China, President and Editor-in-Chief, Zheng Qingdong addressed the forum online.