Imran Khan Gets ‘Shifty’ With China On CPEC, Wants Change In ‘Project Types’

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan intends to inform China that he wants an essential shift in the type of projects to be taken under the controversial China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the country.

The CPEC is a $60 billion flagship of China’s global infrastructure domination project the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Its a network of infra projects linking China’s resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea , as reported by New Indian Express.

In Khan’s maiden visit to China, he is expected to meet President Xi and his counterpart Li Keqiang and inform that his government wanted to bring about a significant shift in the projects falling under the purview of the CPEC. Changing tracks from infra emphasis, Khan wants projects involving agriculture, job creation and foreign investment to take centrestage.

Pakistan, which has already asked for a bailout from IMF to stabilise the careening economy, was stalled by the US, which wants to review the plea from all angles, especially its debt to China.

Speaking about his impending visit to China, Khan said only early implementation of the CPEC projects would realise the true economic friendship between two countries.

India has protested with Beijing over the CPEC as it traverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is disputed territory.