According to a comprehensive report by foreign media such as Turkey's Daily Sabah on the 24th, a Pakistani official pointed out that the United States and India colluded with each other to conspire to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project under construction.
The rare direct allegation comes from Khalid Mansoor, chairman of Pakistan's China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Bureau, who is also a special assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. He made this statement at a seminar held by the prestigious School of Business Administration in Karachi.
Image source: Visual China
The report mentioned that the United States has long opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, smearing it as a "debt trap" in front of Pakistan, but this is the first time Pakistan has responded so bluntly. India, which sees China and Pakistan as major rivals, has also opposed the project, claiming it jeopardizes its strategic interests in the region.
"One thing is clear from the emerging geostrategic landscape: with India's support, the United States is hostile to CPEC, and they won't let it succeed," Mansour said. That requires us to take a stand. He also noted that the United States and India continue to try to get Pakistan to withdraw from China's Belt and Road Initiative, but that "Pakistan is unlikely to give up any of its own interests and has more than once injured its finger in the (Western) alliance in the past." He also noted that attempts to downplay China's strategic influence in the region will not succeed.
He continued, "Both the United States and Europe are skeptical of CPEC because they see CPEC more as a move by China to expand its political, strategic and commercial influence." But he noted that China has "largely" dispelled that concern.
Mansour explained that the U.S. is now "assessing the economic and political consequences of withdrawing from the region" and that "I had a detailed discussion with people at the U.S. Embassy." I told them that the CPEC project is also open to the United States. They also expressed hope that some form of engagement would be developed to see how it could benefit both countries."
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He also noted that Pakistan is seeking to expand CPEC to Afghanistan and discussed with the Afghan Interim Government the possibility of Afghanistan joining CPEC. He said Afghanistan and Pakistan have a "keen interest" in developing economic ties between the two countries and with other neighboring countries, including Iran.
Mansour concludes, "Some European countries have begun to show interest [in CPEC]. Their ambassadors kept coming over to find out. He referred to fake news and "negative propaganda" about the viability of CPEC and the pace of its progress, saying that "in terms of its scope, the size of the second phase of CPEC will be an order of magnitude larger than that of the first phase." (Editor: HHJ)