ISLAMABAD: Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said on Tuesday that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor had gone off track after 2018.
Addressing a press conference along with Presidential Spokesperson Murtaza Solangi and Press Secretary to the Presidency Daniyal Gillani on President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to China, Senator Mandviwalla warned that when relations with a global power like China become derailed, it takes time to bring them back on track.
He noted that China had launched a train route through Iran, although the route was originally expected to pass through Gwadar, Pakistan, adding that major powers always had multiple options available. “CPEC was in Pakistan’s interest,” he maintained. Mandviwalla said Pakistan had been conducting trade with China in Chinese currency since 2012.
Referring to criticism directed at President Zardari, he said such criticism appeared aimed at creating sensationalism and headlines. “President Zardari informs the provinces before his visits,” he said, adding that during a previous visit to China, MoUs relating to Punjab were also signed.
He said President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to China had resulted in the signing of five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) covered sectors including a Karachi desalination plant, agriculture and technology, tea cultivation, heavy machinery manufacturing and animal health and another on medical intelligent robotics aimed to introduce advanced robotic healthcare technologies. He further said an agreement between the Government of Sindh and a Chinese entity would support vaccine production against foot-and-mouth disease in animals.
Mandviwalla said President Zardari had initiated negotiations in 2012 regarding the manufacturing of submarines in cooperation with China and had expressed his intention to attend the commissioning of the submarines. Presidential Spokesperson Murtaza Solangi said President Zardari visited Changsha and Sanya, where he met provincial authorities, Chinese companies and investors to expand cooperation under CPEC 2.0 and related initiatives. He said President Zardari conferred the Sitara-i-Pakistan on Dr Professor Pan Xingbin, who would train cardiac surgeons in Pakistan.
