Army fully aware of hostile plots against CPEC: Gen Qamar Bajwa

RAWALPINDI: Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa says Pakistan Army is fully aware of hostile agenda against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and vowed that the security forces are fully prepared to defeat their designs.

hE reiterated Pakistan Army’s commitment to ensure security for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the workforce involved.

He said this during his visit to Headquarters of Special Security Division (SSD), where he was given a detailed briefing on Integrated Security Mechanism.

The army chief emphasized upon the value Pakistan attaches to the Chinese help and assistance extended in making this projects a success.  He appreciated SSD for their state of preparedness and arrangements for execution of the assigned mission and tasks.

Earlier, on arrival, COAS was received by GOC SSD Major General Abid Rafique. Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Bilal Akbar was also present on the occasion.

CPEC – the background

A $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which focuses on road building and energy infrastructure to end chronic power shortages in Pakistan and to link China’s landlocked north-west with the deep-water port Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.

Some $4.5 billion of the additional investment will be spent on upgrading tracks and signaling on Pakistan’s main railway line from Karachi to Peshawar and increase the speed on the line to 160 km per hour from the current 60-80 kph.

A study late last year by the Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC) estimated CPEC would create 700,000 jobs in Pakistan and a Chinese newspaper recently placed the number at more than 2 million.