ISLAMABAD: Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is crucial for the country’s economic stability and security and therefore, it should not be made controversial like the Kalabagh Dam project.

“CPEC is a game-changer not only for Pakistan but for the entire region and nobody will be allowed to make the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project controversial,” he said while talking to APP. He was asked about reservations being expressed by smaller provinces over the reported change in the western route of CPEC.

He said CPEC would pass through the entire country and all provinces would benefit from it, particularly the backward areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

He said the federal government had time and again assured the smaller provinces that the western route would be built on priority and all its work would be carried out in collaboration with all stakeholders.

The minister said that the federal government would fulfil its commitment made at the multi-party conference held in May last on the CPEC.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2016