- As the CPEC enters, lessons learnt must be acted upon
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chief Lt Gen (retd) Asim Bajwa has said that CPEC is now entering its second phase, and that the covid-19 pandemic will not prove a barrier in the path of its progress. This is good news for the nation, in these parlous times, better than they have normally been. This is because this news would have meant major economic development, but which now implies virtually the sole source of hope for the economy in a bleak post-covid-19 landscape, which will be dominated by a debilitating depression.
The efficacy of the first phase was obvious to the entire country in the ending of load-shedding. True, the electricity shortage has been ended because there was to be no problem in the second phase, but it has meant an end of the power shortages which had been so irksome a part of daily life. Now the second phase is to be centered on the laying of a new fully fenced 1800-km railway track from Karachi to Peshawar, a dry port at Havelian and a new transmission system. Also central to this second phase will be bringing Chinese firms to Pakistan, to carry out direct investment. In this connection, the Heavy Mechanical Complex (established over four decades ago with Chinese help) will play a crucial role. As Chinese firms will be bringing industry and jobs, this HMC role will be particularly crucial.
In his address at the signing ceremony between the CPEC Authority and some Chinese firms, General Bajwa was fulsome in his praise of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s support for CPEC. While this may stand him in good stead in his capacity as Mr Khan’s Special Assistant on Information, General Bajwa should not so summarily forget who was the Prime Minister when CPEC came into being, Mian Nawaz Sharif. Mr Khan should be given credit for the continuity he has given to the project because it is one of benefit to the nation, but to go much beyond that would be to a distortion of history that would benefit no one. Part of the reason for this is the need to keep the project’s historical memory, so that past mistakes are not repeated, so that the solutions to past problems are available today.
