New Delhi: Pakistan has asked India to review its approach to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and stop criticising it.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Islamabad, Pakistan Minister of Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said that CPEC was a purely economic development project that would benefit the region, reported Dawn.
“India should benefit from the project rather than pursue unnecessary criticism,” he said. Iqbal further said India’s reaction to the CPEC was negative and that it would soon realise that the project was beneficial and would bring prosperity to the region, including China and Pakistan.
The minister also stressed the need for strengthening cooperation in the region. “The resolution of the issues don’t lie in tensions and disputes among regional countries. India holds the key to peace in South Asia and the region cannot progress without cooperation,” he said.
Commenting on Pakistan-China ties, Iqbal said that the relationship had hit new heights. “It is always said that Pakistan and China’s friendship is higher than the Himalayas. With the new cooperation of CPEC, we must now change the idiom and say that Pakistan and China friendship is higher than the stars,” the Pakistan leader said in a tweet.
In a subtle hint at India’s concerns, China had late last year said that its plan to include Afghanistan into CPEC did not 'target' a third party.
From the Chinese side, its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying clarified that CPEC expansion and recently held trilateral talks between China, Pakistan and Afghanistan would ‘benefit the whole region’.
China has also previously said that it is ready to hold talks with India to resolve differences over the contentious $50 billion project that passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
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