China Pakistan Economic Corridor: Khattak urges government to halt work on eastern route projects

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khattak on Monday demanded the federal government to halt all the projects initiated under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at eastern rout unless the reservations of his province are addressed. Speaking at a press conference here, he said that the recently inaugurated road project by the Prime Minister at Zhob under western project was never included in CPEC, as it was being already funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB).
He said that all political parties including chief of Jamiat Ulem-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) are onboard as far as the reservations of the province regarding CPEC are concerned, adding any attempt to give priority to eastern route ignoring the western route, will be resisted tooth nail. "It's not a political demand as it's a matter of our right, for which all political parties including the ruling PML-N are united, and we'll not allow anybody to snatch our right...we don't want to make CPEC controversial as our sole demand is that our rights must not be snatched," he added.
He said that JUI-F and Awami National Party (ANP) as well as other opposition political parties have serious reservations after it was revealed that the federal government had adopted a dual policy towards KP by intentionally skipping some of projects in the western route. The chief minister also accused the federal government of backtracking from its commitment made with political parties during an all parties' conference that all political parties would be taken onboard and there would be no changes in the western route.
According to the chief minister, through such attempts the federal government is weakening the federation, adding CPEC is meant to change the future of the country, but a focus towards a particular province would create problem for the country. "All the provinces should be given their due rights and special attention should be paid to backward provinces such as Balochistan and KP, but the government is bent upon to benefit Punjab by changing the original route of the western route, which we will never accept," he maintained. Referring to the alleged preference being given to Punjab in the multi-billion dollar project of CPEC, Khattak said that no province will get benefits from the project if KP was deprived of its rights.
"It will be an economic corridor between Gwadar port and China's western Xinjiang region having a network of roads, railways and pipelines, but the federal government is giving KP only two percent in these projects against its share of 13 percent," he claimed. "We will not beg for our rights. We know how to achieve our rights and we will go to any extent to this end. The federal government is now saying it is constructing the western route. What will we do with that road passing through Hazara, Gilgit and Balochistan when it doesn't include an optic fibre line, railway projects, LNG and energy projects, trade zones and industrial parks," he questioned.
He remarked that gas, LNG, optic fibre and electricity projects would be included in the eastern route of the CPEC because it passes through Punjab, adding the western route would be 600 kilometres shorter but even then PML-N-led federal government is adamant on building the eastern route.