Many in India have been vocal in their opposition to China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which epitomises the spirit and strength of Pakistan-China friendship and cooperation for regional peace, progress and prosperity.

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The friendship between Pakistan and China is all weather and time tested.  Shared mountains and rivers and thousands of years of cultural and civilizational interaction between the peoples of this region have forged strong bonds that make Pakistan and China  two nations but one family, where there is no politics, no conflicts and no disputes.

It is in this perspective that CPEC, the first flagship Project of the China One Belt and One Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping has been shaped.

One Corridor and four dimensions (1+4) pattern of cooperation was agreed by both sides for CPEC. The four key areas include Gwadar Port, Energy, Transportation Infrastructure and Industrial Cooperation. Initially, some USD46 billion were estimated for CPEC. Of this $ 34 billion were envisaged for the Energy Sector, $6.1 billion for roads, $ 3.7 billion for Rail Network and $793 million for Gwadar Port.

 The governments on both sides will play the guiding role and the companies as market entities should make investments in line with market rules. A Joint Cooperation Committee on CPEC Long term planning (JCC) with four joint working groups have been set up. Encompassing physical connectivity of a high order, in the first phase CPEC would substantially upgrade the links between the regions of western China and Pakistan. The ports of Gwadar and Karachi in the Arabian Sea will become conduits of trade and energy transactions between China and Central Asia on the one end and the Indian Ocean region and continents of Africa and Europe on the other. 

For Pakistan, CPEC is truly a game changer. Besides transforming Pakistan into a regional economic, trade and energy hub it would aggregate the strength of the economies of the region into a win-win for collective development thus shaping common destiny of the  peoples of the region. It is Pakistan’s fervent hope that geo-economics will shape the future of our region and of Asia as a whole. Pakistan through CPEC assumes a significant role in Euro-Asian stability and development.

Pakistani businesses are also greatly excited about CPEC and  are scrambling to align their business plans and develop long term strategies to leverage  the promise of prosperity that CPEC portends. The Government and in particular the Pakistan Army has assured complete security for the Corridor. A special army division of some 15,000 troops are being deployed for this purpose. Good progress has been achieved in realising CPEC.  The port of Gwadar will commence full operations by the end of 2016. Logistics will be transformed by CPEC as container ships that today have to make  “the nearly 13,000 km sea voyage from Tianjin to the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Malacca and around India” can be replaced by cheaper container trucks that make “a mere 2,000 km road journey from Kashgar to Gwadar.”

Infrastructure that will connect Gwadar with the Chinese city of Kashgar in Xinjiang include highways and railways. Progress has been made  on the highway network. A 335 km section of the Karakoram Highway between the Sino-Pakistani border city of Khunjerab to Raikot has been upgraded, and a 59 km section of the Hazara Motorway between Burhan and Havelian is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

The groundbreaking of the western route was done in Dera Ismael Khan on May 17, 2016. The initial phase of the Western Route — which when completed will connect Havelian with Gwadar — consists of a 285 km highway between Hakla and Yarik.

For the CPEC Eastern Route, construction work is expected to begin soon. China’s State Council has  approved a USD4.2 billion concessionary loan package for a 120 km section of the Karakoram Highway II between Thakot and Havelian, and a 392 km section of the Lahore-Karachi Motorway between Multan and Sukkur.

Apart from the construction of highways, CPEC’s transportation infrastructure also includes the construction of rail lines, dry ports, as well as the Gwadar airport, the construction of which is scheduled to commence in the middle of 2016. Energy infrastructure — including hydropower dams — and industrial zones will also be constructed under the CPEC framework. Also 16 energy projects under CPEC have been prioritised with a total capacity of 10,400 MW as well as eight actively promoted projects.

At Gwadar,  China Overseas Ports Holding Company Ltd (COPHC) is upgrading port facilities. The East Bay Expressway project and the New Gwadar International Airport projects are being  built. Schools, hospitals and vocational colleges are also being built at Gwadar.

Under the CPEC framework two industrial cooperation projects, namely Haier Ruba Economic Zone Phase 11 and Gwadar Free Zone are to be developed. China Overseas Ports Holding Company will initiate the construction of Gwadar Free Zone in 2016.

Pakistan is cognisant of the threats posed to CPEC by hostile quarters.  India has expressed concerns publicly. MK Narayanan, a former Indian National Security Adviser, stated bluntly that CPEC poses a “major threat” to India. Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh recently stated that CPEC will extend “through a territory which belongs to India”.

Pakistan and China can jointly thwart any  conspiracy to disrupt CPEC. This project has started to move and is gaining unstoppable momentum. However, a lot of work still needs to be done to maximise the beneficial impact of CPEC. Eventually, Afghanistan and Iran may also be linked with the corridor and necessary  connectivity would have to be done so that Gwadar and Iranian port of Chabahar develop in tandem and not as competitors. Also transit through Afghanistan to Central Asian Republics should be realised. 

 Not withstanding the twists and turns in the global and regional situation, the Belt and the Road are destined to make headway, as this Initiative of China provides the alternate vision of a peaceful and prosperous future for the peoples of the world. CPEC is the pioneering project of One Belt One Road.  Its success will shape the 21st century model of peaceful economic and trade cooperation. In its spirit and ethos, it will be a new way forward taking cue from our ancient pasts.

The author is Pakistan’s former foreign secretary and also ex-High Commissioner in India