China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC ) was supposed to be the shining jewel of Pakistan and China’s bilateral ties which highlighted the closeness between the two countries. However, CPEC is fast becoming a burden as a cash-strapped Pakistan has now revealed that China hasn’t funded any CPEC infrastructure projects since 2017.
In a significant development, Islamabad’s Senate Special Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects was apprised of the fact that Beijing has not funded any infrastructure project under the flagship initiative since 2017.
Senator Sikandar Mandhro, chief of transport planning at the Pakistan Planning Ministry, during the meeting, stated that in the absence of Chinese funding, some projects like the Khuzdar-Basima project were being carried out at the federal government’s expense.
Alarmingly for Pakistan, Committee member Senator Kabir Ahmad Shahi stated that only paperwork was carried out on CPEC. Shahi said, “I have been saying this for the last four years that we are taking electricity from Iran and a 300MW project should be started. The project started in a way that a tent was set up with a watchman sitting there. The fence around the New Gwadar International Airport is a shambles.”
Even though the projects under the Gwadar Smart Port City Master plan have not started, Pakistan authorities are still upbeat about the CPEC.
Various reports have been trickling which reveal that China is increasingly averse to grant more funding to Pakistan under CPEC after numerous allegations of corruption. Imran Khan, who in his manifesto, had claimed to investigate corruption in CPEC projects, has so far not conducted any investigation whatsoever.
In 2019, according to reports, Pakistan has diverted 2,400 crore rupees (171.6 billion dollars) to fund projects identified by local legislators.
“The government committed theft by spending Rs 2,400 crore out of Rs 2,700 crore meant for BRI on other development projects,” said opposition leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman.
Read More: Pakistan’s debt-ridden government is now diverting Chinese funds meant for CPEC
CPEC is fast turning out to be a major bone of contention between Pakistan and China, with the former almost bearing the entire debt of CPEC and yet has got nothing substantial from it. China being true to its characteristics, will soon ask Pakistan to pay back its humongous loans something which cash strapped Pakistan will not be able to do so and hence, China will take over CPEC – which is a part of its debt-trap diplomacy’s final phase.
While China expects Pakistan to silently watch by as it invades and exploits its land, the Islamic country is highly unpredictable especially when you consider the amount of state-backed terrorists hustling on its land. If push comes to shove, Pakistan Military might take matters into its own hands and promote state-sponsored terrorism in China to teach it a lesson.