Lahore: Zhao Shiren, the Chinese Consul General in Lahore, said that four corridors were being added to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as both Islamabad and Beijing agreed to it during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to the country.
Speaking at an event here, he termed Sharif’s maiden visit to China as the Prime Minister “unprecedentedly constructive and successful” as both sides agreed to adding four new corridors — digital, industrial, green and health — to the CPEC project, reports Dawn news.
Replying to questions about the “slowed down” pace of work on the CPEC in the recent past, the diplomat said he would not blame anyone, in China or Pakistan, for it, but could assure (Pakistanis) that from now on things would speed up.
He said the project would benefit both China and Pakistan, but it would be more beneficial for the latter, Dawn reported.
He urged Pakistanis that being on the driving seat, they should take ownership of the project, while Chinese could only facilitate them in this regard.
Foreign affairs expert Muhammad Mahdi lamented that the first phase of the CPEC could not be completed because of “ineptness” of the previous (PTI) government.
He said all political parties needed to make a commitment with the CPEC in their respective manifestos for the next elections so that the project could not be harmed again, Dawn news reported.
About the anti-CPEC propaganda, he said the Western world is also being taken on board on the project, while Sharif made it clear during a reception hosted by the US ambassador that Islamabad would go with the country that would come forward and help Pakistan at this critical time.
(IANS)
