ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan has asked India to refrain from commenting on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it is two friendly countries’ bilateral matter.
In a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that $46 billion economic corridor between Pakistan and China is “unacceptable” to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Beijing raised “very strongly” the issue with the Chinese leadership.
In a statement in response to Sushma Swaraj’s statement, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan maintains a policy of non-interference in other countries’ bilateral relations and expects the same from others to refrain from commenting on Pakistan’s bilateral relations with other countries.
The adviser said that he was rather surprised by the Indian minister’s remarks that the corridor project is not acceptable. He said that the mega project is all about regional connectivity and economic development and prosperity of the common people of the entire region.
Sartaj Aziz said that there is dichotomy in the Indian statements on their pronouncements on the importance of the regional connectivity for development and their negative comments about CPEC.
Furthermore, he also referred to statement of spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry that the CPEC project is a major cooperation framework between the two countries and is not against any third party.
Indian statement clearly exposes its designs of hegemony: Nawaz Sharif
Meanwhile, addressing the Balochistan political leadership in Quetta on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also regretted the Indian statement against Pakistan-China economic corridor project, saying that the statement has clearly exposed the Indian designs of hegemony.
The prime minister appreciated China for rejecting the baseless reservations of India on the mega project. He said that the opponents of corridor project exist both within and outside the country and we will have to take extra ordinary measures to confront them. He said that the mega Chinese investment of $46 billion will bring a genuine change in the country.
