Pakistan army chief assures security to $46bn CPEC

The Dollar Business Bureau

Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif has assured complete security to the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He said this when he met China’s Premier Li Keqiang and Vice President of the Central Military Commission Fan Changlong on Monday.

Gen Sharif admired the friendly relationship between Pakistan and China. He said that Pakistan is ready to cooperate in all means to achieve success from the CPEC. He further deliberated with Chinese officials on the steps to increase mutual cooperation in various aspects including training exchanges, defence technology and intelligence sharing and security of the CPEC.

According to Li Keqiang, military-to-military relations and economic cooperation have strengthened the ties between China and Pakistan. He further called for higher level of association and mutual exchanges in several sectors. The CPEC, a flagship project between the two countries, provides conducive environment for growth and development in the complete region, Li said.

Pakistan is preparing a dedicated force of 4,000 security personnel to safeguard Chinese people working in the CPEC project. More than 17,000 security personnel from the army have already been appointed to provide full security the nationals from China. The 3,000-km CPEC project was launched in 2015 that connects western part of China to southern part of Pakistan via road, rail and pipeline connectivity.

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has recently visited China to talk to the Chinese military officials. This was followed by the Pakistan Army Chief’s visit to China.