Pakistan determined to strengthen partnership with China: Khar

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday said Pakistan was determined to further strengthen the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China.

She made these remarks while talking to Charge d’ Affaires of China Pang Chunxue in Islamabad.

The minister of state appreciated the sincere support of China for the progress and development of Pakistan.

She said Pakistan was desirous of enhancing the speed of work on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Khar welcomed the Chinese investment in the special economic zones under the CPEC.

Also read: Govt to wind up CPEC authority

The newly-formed coalition government led by PML-N has decided to abolish the CPEC Authority amid disclosure that Chinese power producers have shut down 1,980 megawatts of production capacity due to non-clearance of their Rs300 billion dues.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has passed instructions to the officials concerned to begin the process for abolishing the authority.

We will move a summary seeking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s approval to abolish the CPEC Authority, Iqbal confirmed to The Express Tribune. “It is a redundant organisation with a huge waste of resources which has thwarted speedy implementation of the CPEC,” said the minister.

The decision to wind up the CPEC Authority was in line with the PML-N’s old policy that was never in favour of establishing a parallel setup. Even the PTI government took over two years to set up the authority but it largely remained dormant as the last political dispensation was too not in favour of having another bureaucratic structure.