CPEC a vital national interest, no comprise on it, says Bajwa
karachi — Chief of the Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was future of Pakistani people and there would never be any compromise over it.
“This (CPEC) is the future of our people, a vital national interest on which we will never compromise, regardless of the loudness of opposing voices,” he said while addressing a seminar on ‘Interplay of Economy and Security’ here.
The seminar was organised by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in collaboration with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The Army Chief said that CPEC was not just a collection of infrastructure and power projects but in fact a complete development platform that can provide a powerful springboard for shared development in the entire CASA (Central Asia-South Asia) region.
“It is also an example of regional cooperation and a break from politics of confrontation — we want all to benefit from this project.”
However, he said the completion of the project and, more importantly, optimisation of its socio-economic dividend for Pakistan and the region hinged on one word: “security”.
“Our region in general and the immediate neighbourhood in particular has failed to take off due to peculiar security challenges. I sincerely believe that the region will sink or sail together — that is how it has played out across the world.
“I want to use this opportunity to earnestly convey to our neighbours to the east and to the west that our destinies are inextricably linked,” he added. Gen. Bajwa said until the current environment of mutual distrust was eliminated, it could not be possibly imagined for the nations of the region to rise together into enduring peace and socio-economic development. “Peace and stability is in the interest of all and we must strive for it,” he maintained.
General Bajwa said that Pakistan was capable of creating sufficient fiscal space to address underlying structural problems through tax reforms, documenting economy, diversifying the export base, and encouraging savings to finance a level of investment that could sustain growth rate higher than the rise of population.
“But this is not all, we have to rise together. We have to ensure that Balochistan, Interior Sindh, FATA, Southern Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan also join us on the trajectory of growth and then move forward. It is with this integrated approach, that we will fulfil the vision of the Quaid,” he added.
He said the vision of integrated economic growth across Pakistan and across the region was noble, but it also needed to be secured. — APP