Pakistan Assures ‘Unwavering Security' for Chinese Investors Amid Terrorist Threats Against CPEC

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project of the Beijing-backed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CPEC comprises a corridor of connectivity, mining and infrastructure projects. It begins in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region and associated projects stretch to the Pakistani port of Gwadar, located in Balochistan.

Islamabad has assured Beijing of “unwavering security arrangements” for Chinese investors visiting the country, amid growing concerns over terrorists threatening the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The assurance was made during a meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Yang Jiechi, the Director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The Chinese delegate also met the country’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday.

According to an official release by Islamabad, Sharif reiterated his “condemnation” of the terrorist attack against Chinese nationals in Karachi in April and “underscored Pakistan's determination to bring the perpetrators to justice”.

Jiechi’s visit to Islamabad takes place against the backdrop of Beijing allegedly demanding the deployment of private security guards to protect Chinese interests in the country, as Pakistani media report.

Three Chinese teachers and their Pakistani driver were left dead after a van belonging to the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi was hit by a suicide terrorist attack on April 26. The attack was claimed by the ethnic secessionist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which opposes the Chinese presence in the province.

Last month, Pakistani Police foiled another terrorist attack, after the police arrested a would-be suicide bomber who threatened to blow himself up near a CPEC project.

Sharif told Wang that CPEC had “transformed Pakistan’s economic base and strengthened capacity for self-development” and reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to boost safety measures for the Chinese nationals, projects and institutions.

The Pakistani Prime Minister also reaffirmed the resolve to accelerate the pace and complete the CPEC projects, which include the Karachi-Peshawar railway link (ML-I), Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), Babusar Tunnel and a desalination plant in Karachi.

He also added that “growing economic linkages” between the two nations had “deepened the roots of friendship.”

During Yang’s meeting with COAS Bajwa, the top Pakistani general assured to take care of security concerns of Beijing in the South Asian nation.

Bajwa was also on a three-day visit to the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao this month to hold talks with General Zhang Youxia, the Vice-Chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC). The two militaries had “vowed to enhance their training, technology and counter-terrorism cooperation at tri-service level” during the visit.

China Announces Additional Aid of $2 Billion

A major economic outcome of the meeting was Beijing announcing another “rollover” of $2 billion in safe deposits to Pakistan. Beijing last week also approved a $2.3 billion loan to Islamabad, which is battling an economic emergency caused due to depleting forex reserves.

Beijing is the largest lender to Pakistan, with its economic assistance totaling over $16 billion so far.

The much-needed Chinese economic assistance comes as Islamabad is negotiating the release of another tranche of its bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“It was also conveyed that China would export 200,000 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer to Pakistan,” stated the Pakistani release.