LAHORE, - U.S envoy says Pakistanis should understand Alice Wells’ statement. United
States Ambassador to Pakistan Paul Wayne Jones has said that Pakistanis
should understand Alice Wells’ statement […] her statement should be taken
positively,” the ambassador said in his talk to the media while visiting
Lahore’s Wazir Khan Mosque.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and
Central Asia Alice Wells’ statement about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC), and said her statement was in accordance with the U.S. foreign policy.
“Different aspects of this statement needed to be understood
[…] the U.S. wants to observe development and prosperity in Pakistan,” he added.
Meanwhile, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal
said the people and government of Pakistan would carry forward the CPEC
projects for prosperity of the region.
Talking to a private news channel, he said the economic
corridor “is a colossal engine for generating employment, alleviation of
poverty and betterment of economy.”
In reply to a question about U.S.’ reservations over the
project, he said Pakistan would never become part of economic wars of the two
global powers.
The spokesperson said Pakistan would not move back regarding
the economic corridor at any cost and the entire nation would contribute in its
development process.
To another question about the SAARC, he said India was the
main hurdle in conducting its summit. He said without cooperation and interest
of the neighboring country, the objectives of the organisation could not be
achieved.
He mentioned that India should take interest for vitalising
the SAARC summit so that issues of the region could be addressed in a proper
manner.
The top U.S. diplomat for South Asia said the CPEC would
profit only Beijing, adding that the United States offered a better model.
In a speech, described as “unusually specific” by the
international media, the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia claimed that the
multi-billion-dollar project would take a toll on Pakistan’s economy at the
time of repayments and dividend in the coming years.
“CPEC’s most expensive single project is upgrading the
railway from Karachi to Peshawar. When the project was initially announced, the
price was set at $8.2 billion,” she said.
“In October of 2018, Pakistan’s railways minister announced
that they had negotiated the price down to $6.2 billion, a saving of two
billion. And he explained Pakistan is a poor country. We cannot afford this
huge burden of these loans.”
“But recent media reports claim the price is now risen to $9
billion […] So, why doesn’t the Pakistani public know the price for CPEC’s most
expensive project or how it’s being determined?”
She urged Islamabad to examine “the burdens that are falling
on the new government to manage with now an estimated $15 billion debt to the
Chinese government and $6.7 billion in Chinese commercial debt”.
Ms Wells emphasised the need for Pakistan to know that China
was providing loans, not grants, as the United States.
“It’s clear or needs to be clear that CPEC is not about aid.
This is almost always the form of loans or other forms of financing, often
non-concessional with sovereign guarantees or guaranteed profits for Chinese
state-own enterprises that are repatriated to China,” she said.
“Now, together with non-CPEC Chinese debts payments, China is
going to take a growing toll on the Pakistan economy, especially when the bulk
of payment starts to come due in the next four to six years.”
Ms Wells warned that even if loan payments were deferred,
“they are going to hang over Pakistan’s economic development potential,
hamstringing Prime Minister (Imran) Khan’s reform agenda.”
“CPEC relies primarily on Chinese workers and supplies, even
amid rising unemployment in Pakistan,” she said.
“There is a different model,” she said. “Worldwide we see
that US companies bring more than just capital; they bring values, processes
and expertise that build the capacities of local economies.”
Apparently, her speech is aimed towards taking a major
offensive that Washington has recently launched against Beijing’s Belt and Road
Initiative, a signature project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which aims to
build ports, highways and railways around the world.
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U.S envoy says Pakistanis should understand Alice Wells’ statement
Reviewed by DM NEWS
on
November 24, 2019
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