THIS is not for the first time that the US State Department officials have criticised the CPEC project for one reason or another. The most recent swipe at CPEC is by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells in which she claimed that a firm blacklisted by the World Bank, was given a CPEC contract.

The Chinese response was laudable with Beijing telling the US that it should focus on its relations with Pakistan instead of spreading negative propaganda about CPEC.

The US is acting like a friend and foe at the same time. On the one hand Washington expects Pakistan to play a positive role in peace making in Afghanistan, and on the other, the US is creating hurdles for CPEC.

One fails to understand why the government keeps harping about the friendly ties between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump while Washington has paid only lip service to the Kashmir issue.

To add insult to injury the US has blacklisted Pakistan on the grounds of religious intolerance but surprisingly India is missing in the list issued by the State Department.

It is time Islamabad said enough was enough, and told Washington it does not appreciate the US double role in relations with Pakistan.

Faisal Zaman

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2020