Gwadar-Kashgar corridor: Senators protest against possible route change

Claim under the revised route, Sindh and Punjab cities will benefit from the project.

ISLAMABAD: Senators from Balochistan have voiced reservations over a proposal seeking diversion of the route of the multibillion-dollar Gwadar-Kashgar economic corridor to Sindh and Punjab.

“We have come to know that a fresh plan is under consideration to divert the trade route from the main cities of Balochistan to those of Sindh and Punjab,” said Senator Hamayoon Khan Mandokhail. He was referring to the 2,395km proposed highway from Gwadar to Kashgar which is aimed at boosting trade between Pakistan, China and Central Asian states.

“We have conveyed our strong reservations to the prime minister and there will be serious protest if the new plan is implemented,” he added.

Mandokhail said if Gwadar port was to be used for the economic corridor, then the maximum benefits should also be given to the people of Balochistan.

The economic corridor was expected to change the fate of the people of Balochistan cities located along the route. “Under the new plan, it will be redirected to pass through most of the cities of Sindh and Punjab,” he claimed.

Previously, it was planned to pass through Gwadar, Hoshab, Panjgur, Quetta, Zhob and then to DI Khan, he said. “But now a plan has been made to divert it through Gwadar to Khuzdar then to Jacobabad and Dera Ghazi Khan,” he added.

Another Baloch senator Rozi Khan Karar said the new route would not be acceptable to the people of Balochistan. Besides the revised route would be 350 to 400km longer than the original one, he added.

“We will protest against this proposed plan in and outside of Parliament,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2014.