China to engage Pakistani political parties beyond the Federal level

China’s Road and belt project has faced a ot of objection from Pakistani politica parties, that is why today, China is trying to engage political parties of Pakistan above the Federal and state level. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) international connectivity project is the crown jewel of China.

This has prompted the Communist Party of China (CCP) to initiate party-to-party engagements with the Pakistani political class rather than relying solely on the governments of the day to push forward CPEC projects.

“The CCP attaches great importance to exchanges and cooperation with Pakistani political parties and will make the most of the advantages of inter-party relations to reach consensus among the parties and make the contribution of inter-party exchanges to build a China-Pakistan closer community of shared future in the new era ”, said recently the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong.

“We are ready to work with Pakistani political parties to make good use of the CPEC Political Parties Joint Consultation Mechanism, actively promote coordination between CPEC and Naya Pakistan Vision, and strengthen exchanges of ideas, policies and peoples. in order to create a good policy and public environment for the high-quality development of CPEC,” Nong said at a webinar organized by the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) in connection with the upcoming CPC centennial celebration.

His comments came even as the Imran Khan government had stalled certain projects under CPEC on suspicion of corruption by previous governments. After this, the opposition (previously in power) has created obstacles in the execution of most of the CPEC projects.

Nong said China wants the two countries to support each other on issues related to their core interests and main concerns. “We are ready to support the Pakistani political parties to dedicate themselves to the development of Pakistan and the consolidation of the political base for China-Pakistan cooperation,” he said at the webinar.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a letter to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on June 8, had requested to give Pakistan another 12 months to repay the $ 1 billion that Islamabad had borrowed from Beijing last year at an interest rate. from 1%. Islamabad has asked Beijing to forgive debts owed to China-funded energy projects established under CPEC.

In a recent setback for CPEC, Saudi Arabia announced that it will move its refinery project from the Pakistani port city of Gwadar to Karachi.

The port of Gwadar has yet to be connected to areas of northern Pakistan with roads and railways, forcing the Saudis to move their proposed refinery to the economic center of Pakistan.

Japanese leading media platform Nikkei Asia quoted Tabish Gauhar, special assistant to Pakistan’s prime minister for energy and oil, as saying that the proposed refinery along with a petrochemical complex is now expected to be established in Karachi.