CPEC stalled under Imran Khan-led govt, says Pakistan opposition

Pakistan's former Prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is currently stalled under Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. 

In 2015, China announced an economic project in Pakistan worth USD 46 billion. With the CPEC, Beijing aims to expand its influence in Pakistan and across Central and South Asia in order to counter the influence of the United States and India. The CPEC project would link Pakistan's southern Gwadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China's western Xinjiang region. 

Taking credit for the planning and execution of CPEC projects, Abbasi said all projects were completed during Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government's term while funding to the ongoing project stopped during the current government's tenure. 

On Friday, Pakistan and China inked the Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation under Beijing's multi-billion CPEC project in Pakistan following Imran Khan's visit to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. 

Abbasi further talked about the local government, gas shortage and opposition's efforts to oust the PTI government, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Former Prime Minister pointed out that despite being a gas-producing province, Sindh province was faced with gas load-shedding and that this was mainly because of the government's incompetence. 

"The Constitution says gas belongs to the province where it is produced. Therefore, its distribution should be given to provinces otherwise problems in gas distribution will increase manifold. People will be deprived of it as a result," Dawn quoted Abbasi as saying. 

On the opposition's efforts to remove the incumbent administration, Abbasi said the opposition should utilise parliamentary traditions and oust the PTI government to ensure transparent elections, Dawn newspaper reported. 

"The quicker the government is sent packing, the better," he said. 

He further stated the PTI government could not even talk to the International Monetary Fund. Under the new money bill, a PKR 700 billion burden and PKR 160bn income taxes would be borne by the salaried class, whereas the State Bank of Pakistan would be restructured that would paralyse the government and result in a higher power tariff, the Pakistani newspaper reported.