ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Over the years it was Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which boasted of materializing the multi-billion-dollar Pakistan China Economic Corridor (CPEC); however, now it has been learnt that in fact, it was its key ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman who floated the idea of initiating the project to China.
Talking to media, the Secretary General Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari said that it was the JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman who, now also the Head of multi-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ruling alliance, had conceived the idea of CPEC.
The Senator said that it was us who had given the idea of opening of trade through the One Belt One Road Initiative. He added that Maulana Fazlur Rehman proposed this idea for the first time to China when he was the Chairman of the Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs in National Assembly of Pakistan.
It’s worth noting that the JUI-F Chief remained the Chairman of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1996 during the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.
Ghafoor Haidari further said that the CPEC projects are underway smoothly, adding that unfortunately, the mega project was slowed down during the previous regime but the PDM government restored and further improved the cordial bilateral relations with China.
