CPEC

The attacks have frustrated China, reportedly leading it to press Pakistan's federal government to open formal negotiations for a joint security management system

Many Chinese companies in Pakistan have reportedly turned to Chinese security engineers to gather intelligence amid inadequate local security arrangements

Chinese workers in Pakistan have been targeted by terrorist attacks twice within six months, prompting Beijing to raise security concerns at the highest diplomatic levels, but to little avail

The current geopolitical situation in the Middle East is not likely to have an impact on the Indian carpet fair and may offer an advantage to Indian exporters, Carpet Export Promotion Council Chairman Kuldeep Raj Wattal has said. The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), which plays a crucial role in promoting the carpet industry, has been organising biannual fairs that attract domestic as well as international buyers. "The current geopolitical situation in the Middle East will not affect the Indian carpet fairs. Instead, it may offer an advantage to Indian exporters, especially if Iranian production is impacted," CEPC Chairman Kuldeep Raj Wattal told PTI. On the cancellation of the 'Domotex fair' in Germany, a major event for global carpet trading, Wattal said "this presents an opportunity for increased orders at the ongoing 'India Carpet Expo 2024'." The CEPC is targeting an export trade goal of Rs 500 crore to Rs 700 crore during this expo. The 'India Carpet Expo 2024' in Bha

Pakistan's government recently approved a 'reinvigorated and re-energised' national counter-terrorism campaign, called 'Operation Azm-i-Istehkam'

The two leaders also affirmed their consensus on CPEC's upgradation and advancing the mega project's development in its second phase, according to Dawn

Pakistan and China on Friday vowed to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from its "detractors and adversaries", as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and assured Beijing of providing complete security to Chinese personnel working on the USD 65 billion project. Sharif is currently on a visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, seeking to upgrade cooperation under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. In a statement, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said during the meeting, the two sides discussed the significance of Gwadar as an important pillar of the CPEC and agreed to expedite the timely completion of all related infrastructure projects to transform Gwadar in Balochistan province into a regional economic hub. "They also expressed their firm commitment to protect CPEC from its detractors and adversaries and to upgrade CPEC in the form of

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to China will see the formal launching of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistani media had reported last month

China is reportedly unsatisfied by how Pakistan has handled Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's Dasu terrorist attack in March that killed five Chinese nationals working on the CPEC project

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit China in the first week of next month to join the formal launching of the second phase of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, according to a media report on Saturday. A source in the Prime Minister's Office told the Dawn newspaper that Prime Minister Sharif was scheduled to leave for China on June 4, but the date of the visit could slightly be changed. The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is opposed by India as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Infrastructure and energy projects were part of the CPEC's first phase. In CPEC-II, both countries will focus on agriculture, Main Line-I of Pakistan Railways, businessmen-to-businessmen deals and realignment of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) etc. While presiding over a meeting of representatives of Chinese companies on Friday, the prime minister said that Pakistan wanted to benefit from Chinese ..

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on his election as the Pakistan President, saying that the iron-clad friendship between the two countries is a choice of history and the strategic significance of the ties has become more prominent in the light of current changes in the world. Zardari, the husband of late Pakistan Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto was overwhelmingly elected as the 14th President of Pakistan on Saturday, becoming the only civilian president of the coup-prone country for a second time. Zardari, the co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was the joint candidate of the ruling alliance of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). In his message to Zardari on Sunday, Xi said "China and Pakistan are good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers, adding that the two countries' iron-clad friendship is a choice of history and a precious treasure of the two peoples." Xi said that "the two countries have in .

One of Pakistan's key railway modernisation projects planned to be built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is in trouble due to the IMF's conditions regarding sovereign guarantees, according to a media report on Saturday. The Main Line-1 (ML-1) aimed to modernise over 1,726 kilometres of colonial-era rail line stretching from Karachi to Peshawar remains subject to IMF approval and the finance ministry's ability to provide sovereign guarantees for a USD 6.67 billion loan from China, even though the project's budget has been cut by 32 per cent, reported the Dawn newspaper. The CPEC is a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013. Pakistan had secured a last-gasp USD 3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 30, which later disbursed an initial upfront instalment of about USD 1.2 billion. The debt-trapped nation had given the IMF assurances of USD 8 billion for external payments. A senio

President Xi Jinping has sought to project an upbeat picture of the impact of the CPEC projects in Pakistan, saying the China-funded venture is a vivid testament to their "ironclad friendship" and vowed to stand firmly with its all-weather ally. China will continue to work with Pakistan to take their strategic ties to new heights, Xi said as the two countries celebrated the 10th anniversary of the launch of the ambitious CPEC infrastructure projects in Islamabad, a day after a major suicide bombing took place in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In his congratulatory message to the 'Decade of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor' (CPEC) celebrations event held in Islamabad on Monday, Xi said the USD 60 billion CPEC infrastructure programme is an "important pioneering project" of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is opposed by India as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied ...

Stressing that China and Pak will continue to improve overall planning, Xi said no matter how the international landscape may change, China will always stand firmly with Pakistan.

Pakistan, China and Afghanistan have agreed to forge closer economic ties by extending the Beijing-backed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan to fully harness the country's potential as a hub for regional connectivity. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi held the 5th China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue, where they also underlined the need to prevent any group from using their territories for terror activities against any nation. The three countries reiterated their resolve to fully harness Afghanistan's potential as a hub for regional connectivity and reaffirmed "their commitment to further the trilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and to jointly extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, according to a joint statement issued on Monday, two days after the meeting here on .

China's plan to build a railway link to Pakistan through the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) region could cost about USD 57.7 billion, according to an official feasibility study, which recommended the government to go ahead with the project for its strategic significance, despite heavy costs, a media report said on Thursday. The proposed 3,000-km railway, connecting Pakistan's port of Gwadar to Kashgar in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), was assessed by scientists from the state-owned China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co Ltd. India has protested to China over the USD 60 billion CPEC corridor as it is being laid through PoK. China's increasing number of projects in Pakistan with billions of dollars in loans raised concerns about the increasing indebtedness of Pakistan, which is reeling under a serious economic crisis. The CPEC is officially regarded as the flagship project of China's ...

The Chinese embassy has asked Pakistan to release overdue payments to the tune of $1.5 bn to Chinese Independent Power Plants working under the mega $64 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

A wary China on Tuesday sought to downplay reports of mass protests against the CPEC projects at Pakistan's port city Gwadar, saying they are not targeted against the multi-billion dollar initiative, amid growing concerns here about the security of hundreds of Chinese personnel working in the neighbouring country. According to a report in the Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper on Monday, hundreds of children joined the ongoing protests in Gwadar which entered its 18th day on Sunday. The protesters are threatening to block the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects if their demands, which included banning illegal trawling in Gwadar, are not met within a week. These reports are untrue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here. The organisers have said in public that the protests are not targeting the Chinese side or the CPEC," Mao said. The Dawn newspaper further reported that the protesting children reached Gwadar city from Turbat, Pasni and ot

India has consistently opposed the USD 60 billion project, which links Pakistan's southern Gwadar port in Balochistan to China's western Xinjiang and passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Sharif said that they also "agreed to increase multilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan, including CPEC, and further strengthen the strategic partnership".