“Army conscious of intrigues against CPEC” COAS Gen Raheel

“We are totally aware of all campaigns against the corridor and I vow that the security forces are ready to pay any price to turn this long cherished dream into reality,” Raheel said this earlier yesterday during his visit to the headquarters of the new Special Security Division (SSD) specifically raised for CPEC’s security.

The CPEC – a multibillion dollar network of roads and rail links that will connect China to the Persian Gulf through Pakistan’s deep-sea port in Gwadar – was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s landmark visit to Pakistan in April last year.

During the same visit President Mamnoon Hussain had told President Xi that the government had accorded approval to providing security to the Chinese working in Pakistan, and a special security division had been created for this purpose

The SSD – a special division of the Pakistan Army – is a special 12,000-strong unit for the security of the Chinese engineers working on the 3,000-kilometre-long route.

In one of his previous tweets on micro-blogging site Twitter, the Inter Services Public Relations’ (ISPR) Director General Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa had said the SSD would comprise nine army battalions and six wings of the civil armed forces, and the entire unit will be commanded by a major-general.

According to the ISPR’s statement issued yesterday, General Raheel put emphasis on coordination among law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to ensure security of the project. He termed the project a game changer with the potential to transform lives of the country’s people.

“There is a need to ensure peaceful environment to be able to push all planned development projects,” Raheel said, as he reiterated commitment of the Pakistan Army to provide security for the project and the workforce involved.

Earlier, General Raheel was given a detailed briefing on the progress on raising the force and wide-ranging security aspects of the project. On arrival, General Raheel was received by Lieutenant General Malik Zafar Iqbal and the SSD Commander Major General Abid Rafique.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Committee on the CPEC met on Friday morning under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and discussed issues related to the CPEC.

Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah presented perspective of his government on the CPEC before the committee as he urged the federal government to convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to address concerns of the provinces.

The government is supposed to convene CCI meeting once in three months as per the Constitution. The delay of around 10 months in the convening of CCI meeting prompted the Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani to give a ruling last week, asking the government to hold its meeting at the earliest.

Murad Ali Shah urged the government to establish a port at Keti Bandar as a special terminal for the export of coal as well as a rail link and Special Economic Zone to support the proposed port.

The committee directed the ministry of ports and shipping to have consultation with experts of Sindh government to examine the feasibility so that Thar could become the future powerhouse of Pakistan.

The panel also discussed the issue of Port Qasim being used for a coal power project. After hearing both sides, the chairman directed the ministry of water and power, ministry of ports and shipping and the ministry of petroleum and natural resources to have substantive and speedy discussions with the government of Sindh to resolve this issue at the earliest.

On the issue of the Sukhi Kenari hydel power project in Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the chairman constituted a 2-member sub-committee – comprising Senator Lt Gen (Retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi and Senator Shibli Faraz – to coordinate both with the provincial and federal government to resolve the matter.

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