Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking of a section of the motorway in the country's northwest yesterday, signalling the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement.
The 60-km-long 4-lane fenced Hazara Motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province would cost USD 297 million and take two years to complete.
Sharif during his China visit early this month signed deals worth USD 45.6 billion which included projects connected with the Corridor, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Sceptics in both the countries, however, point to the rising tide of extremism in Pakistan which makes its construction extremely difficult.
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The tenuous political and security situation in Pakistan prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to cancel his trip to Islamabad in September during which he visited the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.
During his November 8 visit to China, Sharif has promised full security to Chinese personnel involved in construction of the mammoth project.
The two countries should facilitate the development of Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan, strengthen cooperation in energy and electricity projects and the planned industrial parks along the corridor, Li was quoted as saying by the official news agency.
The Corridor was proposed in an agreement reached during Li's visit to Pakistan in May 2013.
Planned to connect Kashgar in China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar Port in Balochistan province, the corridor is expected to serve as a terminal for China to pump oil procurement from Persian gulf.