CPEC is not a burden, Pak says

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected United States’ notion of Beijing being the sole benefactor of its China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and asserted that its relations with China within the purview of the project will never fray.

Addressing a press conference two days after US acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells, strongly criticised China’s international development projects and lending practices under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Pakistan’s newly appointed Minister for Planning

Asad Umar said that CPEC would not prove to be a burden for the country but help in providing a strong basis for industrial growth for the coming years.

Pakistan “has always recognised that this (the CPEC) is not an aid” and “this government has always maintained that it wishes to move past the initial scope of the arrangement,” he said. “The aid that Pakistan received in the past did not really contribute in real terms towards the country’s progress and she was right to point out that we must stand on our own two feet,”

PAKISTAN SUMMONS NORWEGIAN ENVOY

Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Saturday summoned the Norwegian Ambassador to Islamabad to express concern about the desecration of the Quran in Norway’s Kristiansand.

Earlier this week, the ‘Stop Islamisation of Norway’ movement held a rally in Kristiansand, during which its leader Lars Thorsen tried to burn a copy of the holy book.

Islamabad further urged the Norwegian authorities to bring those responsible for the incident to justice.