Imtiaz Gul
Yao Jing, the Ambassador of the Peoples’ Republic of China in Pakistan, in an interview with this magazine, describes Sino-Pak relations as “…unique, stable, and based on basic principles of mutual respect for each other, non-interference in internal matters, win-win collaboration, and an extreme focus on the welfare of people of both nations.” For him, the first anti-COVID support consignment in early February for China and President Arif Alvi’s visit to Beijing underlined the unwavering friendship and singular expression of Pakistan’s solidarity with its “iron brother”. Pakistan without a doubt is China’s closest partner as far as regional initiatives are concerned.
Yao Jing yet again rubbished the “Chinese debt trap for Pakistan” suggestion as motivated propaganda by those who want to impose their unilateralism on China and its friends. If Pakistan is in difficulty, “we will never pressurize our most trusted friend to repay the loans – which have a repayment period of up to 25 years and are less than six percent of Pakistan’s external debt ($106b, according to the State Bank of Pakistan, which it owes to IMF, World Bank and other western bilateral and multilateral institutions). As of August, Chinese loans and balance of payment support to Pakistan stood at $8.5 billion, including close to $3 billion in the balance of payment support.
In multiple interviews, the ambassador has promised that 90 percent of labor for CPEC projects will be local and for the training of engineers and that 3 Pakistani engineers would be associated with one Chinese engineer for these projects.
The latest interview by the Chinese ambassador denotes this all-weather partnership, underscored by the long list of developments around the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the months of July and August.
On August 5, for instance, the National Economic Council (NEC) finally approved the strategically important Mainline-1 (ML1) railway project under the CPEC cooperation framework. Both countries will now negotiate the loan modalities for the 1,872-kilometer high-speed railway from Peshawar to Karachi, but the bulk of the funding will come from Chinese sources.
Earlier, in May this year, China Power joined hands with the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) for the Diamer-Bhasha dam.
Similarly, despite the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic, the Thar Block-2 – a $500 Million 330 Megawatts Power Plant – was launched in the second quarter of 2020, being constructed by Thal Nova – Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO). At the same time, nearly 70% of the 292.5 kilometers of the Islamabad to Dera Ismail Khan four-lane motorway is complete, and moving ahead with the remainder.
Thanks to the Chinese support – loans, and investments – Pakistan is now also self-sufficient in energy.
Also in August, 20,000 China-funded scholarships and 1,500 short term internship programmes for Pakistani students and workforce got underway. To kick-start this programme, China is providing technical training equipment worth Rs. 650 million to the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) for establishing 500 smart classrooms in 50 leading Pakistani Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes related to the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Approximately 50,000 TVET graduates will benefit from the project.
Another piece of good news in August came from the Chinese Overseas Port and Holding Company (COPHC), which said the number of investors in the Gwadar Free Zone has reached 56, and despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, four plants and workshops have been completed. They will go into operation this year, according to Zhang Baozhong, Chairman of the company that operates the port.
The bagging of DAP fertilizer at Gwadar is the first time it has happened at a Pakistani port, instead of foreign ports. The transit trade to Afghanistan via Gwadar has also begun for the first time, offering Afghan importers a much shorter and quicker route for their imports. For Gwadar itself, the East Bay Expressway, the International Airport, China-Pakistan Friendship Hospital, Gwadar Technical and Vocational Institute, and Faqueer Colony Middle School extension building are also in the process of construction.
The first CPEC SEZ in Faisalabad was launched in January while planning and execution at SEZs in Dhabeji (Sindh) and Rashakai (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) is also underway.
What distinguishes the Sino-Pak relations from other bilateral relationships the anti-COVID19 Chinese support to Pakistan – 7 batches of 106 tons of medical supplies including the latest cargo of 1,000 ventilators on August 13.
China and Pakistan, in the words of Ambassador Yao Jing, face challenges of: unilateralism by some countries, Kashmir (the unfinished UN agenda), peace in Afghanistan, and terrorism in South Asia. Only in working together with coordinated policies based on mutual trust and respect can both overcome these challenges, he underlines.
