{"id":8953,"date":"2022-06-25T18:16:46","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T18:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=8953"},"modified":"2022-06-25T18:16:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-25T18:16:46","slug":"cpec-a-recipe-for-baluchistans-prosperity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/cpec-a-recipe-for-baluchistans-prosperity\/","title":{"rendered":"CPEC a recipe for Baluchistan\u2019s prosperity"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Wasim Khan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Data suggests that Balochistan has had a flimsy growth performance over the past decade and its GDP per capita is also the lowest when compared to other provinces. Today, the geography of Balochistan is again under the threats due to change in political scenario.<\/p>\n

Balochistan holds most important status in this region in terms of geostrategic position in the region due to Gwadar Port. Not only Pakistan, but other countries of this region want to be a beneficiary of this port, among which China is on the top. The progress on Gwadar Port has been the most significant development task in recent years.<\/p>\n

Once developed, the port would be a game changer for the province as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is set to open up new avenues of opportunities for the people of Balochistan. It is envisioned that other CPEC project in general and Gwadar in particular would be transformed into an economic hub, and subsequently, contribute towards the development of the entire province, resulting in addressing the various economic and social problems of Balochistan.<\/p>\n

Another potential sector, that can change the fate of the province, is mining. The province is rich in mineral resources and the mining sector would flourish, as the CPEC would become operational. It would contribute towards reducing unemployment in local areas. It would also enable the local government to develop and enhance its human resource.<\/p>\n

Strengthening micro and medium small sized industries in Balochistan would also contribute towards achieving greater benefits for the local population. But some anti-state and disgruntled elements during the past some time have been carrying out nefarious activities to disrupt the development in the province. However, the people of Balochistan are vigilant to enough to foil such mean tactics, which are aimed at tarnishing the time-tested deeper than the ocean and higher than the Himalaya friendship bond between China and Pakistan.<\/p>\n

Citing attack on Chinese bus in Karachi, Advisor to Balochistan Chief Minister on Interior Mir ZiaullhLangosays that these are few sold out soles, who played in the hands of anti-state elements and are carried out nefarious activities. \u201cWe as a nation have a great love and regard for China and its peoples. Both Pakistan and China to root-out the menace of terrorism,\u201d Mir ZiaullahLango says, adding that there are few dual nature leaders who play double game after becoming the part of local politics and Parliament.<\/p>\n

He further says that such politicians highlight such issues during elections to improve their vote bank by misleading these disgruntled elements. \u201cPakistan\u2019s army has been fighting with them over the years and broken their back. They (disgruntled elements) are at their fading end. No one should even think that projects like CPEC will be halted. Our development journey is bound to succeed.<\/p>\n

Baloch people have a great love for China and its people and are hopeful that Gawadarand other projects will yield life-changing impact on the lives of the benefitting people of Pakistan. We wish and pray that these projects are completed on time and the people benefit from them,\u201d he maintained.<\/p>\n

Echoing the voice for decades old ties between China and Pakistan, Malik Sikandar Advocate, Leader of the Opposition in Balochistan Assembly says that China-Pakistan ties are centuries old and time-tested, which are based on strong foundation and mutual respect to protect the interest of both the countries and their people. China-Pakistan relations are bound to be stronger over the time. Both the countries understand that different disgruntled elements try to influence and damage their ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know, China knows that the targeted attack on Chinese nationals was aimed at not only tarnishing the image of Pakistan but also damage the friendship of China and Pakistan. These elements have been trying to barge into our decades old friendship fortress, but both China and Pakistan are united to foil their nefarious designs,\u201d Malik Sikandar added.<\/p>\n

Narrating the benefits of road infrastructure being built under the CPEC, Najeebullam, a resident of Balochistan,said that it used to take two to three days to travel to Gawadar from Quetta. \u201cWe are thankful to Chinese government and Chinese people who built this road and the journey between the two cities has been reduced to seven, eight hours. There has also been a great development in the power and energy sectors. We are happy and thankful to China for their support,\u201d he maintained.<\/p>\n

Yalmaz, another resident of Balochistan, said that CEPEC and other such development projects will lead to job creation and investment, which will definitely benefit the people of Pakistan in general and Balochistan in particular. He further said that there is a need to develop a positive image of the CPEC through media to remove misconceptions that the locals may have.<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan China cooperation is bringing development and prosperity to the people of Baluchistan. The Chinese investment in the largest Pakistani province is a ray of hope for the poverty stricken area. The government and opposition in Baluchistan is united to counter the enemies of progress who are attacking Chinese nationals. Watch the views of Baluchistan Chief Minister\u2019s advisor on interior, leader of the opposition and local citizens on the issue,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The CPEC is being cited to prove to be a \u201cgame changer\u201d linking up a vast sweep of regional markets from China to Asia to the Middle East to Europe, and opening up new markets with vast trade opportunities, both inter- and intra-regional, worth billions of dollars. Gwadar forms one of the four pillars of CPEC,the other three being energy infrastructure and industrial development. Pakistan, and Balochistan inparticular, will benefit tremendously as all the four pillars are strengthened along the western route thatwill traverse through Balochistan.– The writer is a development practitioner based in Islamabad. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Wasim Khan Data suggests that Balochistan has had a flimsy growth performance over the past decade and its GDP per capita is also the lowest when compared to other provinces. Today, the geography of Balochistan is again under the threats due to change in political scenario. Balochistan holds most important status in this region […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}