ISLAMABAD: The chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has criticised the government for creating confusion over the route of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor.

Talking to reporters at his official residence here on Thursday, he said the government should not float misleading information that the project might take eight to 10 years to complete. The government should start work on at least 100km route and connect it with the existing road network, he added.

Know more: No change in Pak-China corridor route, Fazl assured

The Maulana, who recently visited China on the invitation of the ruling Communist Party, claimed that the Chinese leadership had supported his point of view regarding the western route of the corridor from Gwadar to Kashgar.

The JUI-F chief had expressed reservations over the change in the route in January and after that opposition senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan warned the government in February that any change in the original plan would not be accepted.

He said China was already building a road linking it to northern Europe via Moscow and another from Central Asia to France, which would possibly pass through northern Iran.

“However, the ground reality was conveyed to the Chinese authorities that the best route from the deep seaport of Gwadar to Kashgar was Gwadar-Quetta-Killa Saifullah-Zhob-D.I. Khan to Peshawar and onwards,” he said.

The JUI-F chief said that earlier several other routes had been proposed for transportation of goods from Gwadar to Kashgar, including one from Gwadar to Karachi and onwards and the other from Gwadar to Sukkur and Lahore.

“But the western route is the shortest one and will improve economic conditions of Pakhtuns and Baloch living in remote and backward regions,” he added.

Asked about China’s resentment over the movement of alleged terrorists from Pakistan to Urumqi area, the Maulana said the West, especially the United States, did not want to see any Asian country become an economic power and that was why conspiracies, such as terror attacks on Chinese residents, were being hatched.

“I have not seen any discrimination in China. The Muslim majority region of western China is as developed and prosperous as Beijing or any other city,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

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