Pakistan rejects U.S. top diplomat Alice Wells' statement on CPEC

Qureshi said Wells had given her personal opinion on the subject.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday responded to U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Alice Wells’ statement about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that she had given her personal opinion on the subject which would not make any difference.

However, he categorically rejected her statement and revealed that in order to enhance the project, the Phase II has been started as “it is inevitable for the development of country”.

He spoke to the media in Multan, and mentioned that the corridor “is a game changer for the region and there is no restriction for any country including the USA to invest in economic zones being established under the project”.

Replying to a question, the minister said a national consensus exists among all political parties on the issue of Kashmir.

He said that it has been decided that next meeting of the Kashmir Cell would be held at the Foreign Office in Islamabad in which Prime Minister Imran Khan would also be invited.

“The premier will be briefed on next course of action in the light of developments taking place on Kashmir.”

The minister said in another development Indian Supreme Court has also directed the BJP-led government to present its stance on the issue.

Qureshi said: “Pakistan wants to refocus towards Kashmir as the issue was diverted due to internal politics in the country.” He urged the media to keep its focus on plight of Kashmiris and Indian brutal tactics to suppress their right to self-determination.

The minister said Pakistan has raised its protest at the diplomatic level with Norway over the desecration of Holy Quran. Norwegian ambassador was called at the Foreign Office yesterday and was conveyed of Pakistan’s deep concern and protest on the matter. Pakistani ambassador in Norway has also been directed to raise the issue with the host government in order to bring the culprit to justice.

The top U.S. diplomat for South Asia had said the CPEC would profit only Beijing, adding that the United States offered a better model.

In a speech, described as “unusually specific” by the international media, the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia claimed that the multi-billion-dollar project would take a toll on Pakistan’s economy at the time of repayments and dividend in the coming years.

“CPEC’s most expensive single project is upgrading the railway from Karachi to Peshawar. When the project was initially announced, the price was set at $8.2 billion,” she had said.

“In October of 2018, Pakistan’s railways minister announced that they had negotiated the price down to $6.2 billion, a saving of two billion. And he explained Pakistan is a poor country. We cannot afford this huge burden of these loans.”

“But recent media reports claim the price is now risen to $9 billion […] So, why doesn’t the Pakistani public know the price for CPEC’s most expensive project or how it’s being determined?”

She had urged Islamabad to examine “the burdens that are falling on the new government to manage with now an estimated $15 billion debt to the Chinese government and $6.7 billion in Chinese commercial debt”.

Ms Wells had emphasised the need for Pakistan to know that China was providing loans, not grants, as the United States.

“It’s clear or needs to be clear that CPEC is not about aid. This is almost always the form of loans or other forms of financing, often non-concessional with sovereign guarantees or guaranteed profits for Chinese state-own enterprises that are repatriated to China,” she had said.

“Now, together with non-CPEC Chinese debts payments, China is going to take a growing toll on the Pakistan economy, especially when the bulk of payment starts to come due in the next four to six years.”

Ms Wells had warned that even if loan payments were deferred, “they are going to hang over Pakistan’s economic development potential, hamstringing Prime Minister (Imran) Khan’s reform agenda.”

“CPEC relies primarily on Chinese workers and supplies, even amid rising unemployment in Pakistan,” she had said.

“There is a different model,” she had said. “Worldwide we see that US companies bring more than just capital; they bring values, processes and expertise that build the capacities of local economies.”

Apparently, her speech is aimed towards taking a major offensive that Washington has recently launched against Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a signature project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which aims to build ports, highways and railways around the world.