Chinese envoy, railways minister upbeat about early launch of ML-I project

SOURCES SAY SOME ISSUES NEED TO BE RESOLVED FOR PROJECT FINANCING

China on Wednesday hinted at an early launch of the Main Line-i project of Pakistan Railways – the biggest ever infrastructure project of the country’s history with an estimated cost of around $6.8 billion.

Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong called on Minister for Railways Azam Swati and discussed with him the progress made on the ML-I project. The ambassador said that ML-I project would take the China-pakistan Economic Corridor to new heights and would showcase the depth of the deep-rooted bond between the two countries.

The project aims at reconstruction of the Peshawar-karachi Railway track and enabling it to carry out trains to the speed limit of around 120 kilometers per hour. The project would be completed in three phases and would reduce Peshawar-karachi traveling time significantly.

Once completed, the project would largely help the revival of freight trains which would later also help use the freight trains for communication of goods from Xinjiang to Gwadar Port.

According to the sources familiar with details of the meeting, significant progress has been made regarding ML-I as the two leaders discussed at length the issues related to the project. However, a source told Pakistan Today that while there are still some issues regarding the loan for the project, it is expected that the project will soon be formally launched after the approval of a loan from the Chinese banks.

The railway minister thanked the Chinese ambassador for his keen interest in the ML-I project.

The minister appreciated the services rendered by Ambassador Rong and agreed to launch the project on ML-1 at the earliest to further strengthen Pakistan-china friendship.

On the occasion, the Chinese ambassador said that ML-I would be the biggest project in the history of Pakistan and it would further strengthen Pakistanchina friendship. The ML-I project is of utmost importance to Pakistan Railways and the national economy and the Chinese partnership will change the map of railways in Pakistan, he added.

Swati said that Pakistan is grateful to the Chinese government for providing all possible assistance to Pakistan for this project.