KARACHI: A key Pakistani committee operating under the planning ministry on Wednesday presented a modified project proposal for the upgrade of Pakistan Railways’ existing Main Line (ML-1) and the establishment of a dry port at a cost of $6.7 billion to the top economic oversight body for approval.
The ML-1 railway upgrade is among the biggest projects under the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), involving the rehabilitation and upgrading of the railway tracks from Karachi to Peshawar.
It is also viewed as a cornerstone of the CPEC initiative due to its scale and the significant impact it is expected to have on Pakistan’s infrastructure and regional economic connectivity.
According to a statement released by Pakistan’s planning ministry, the Central Development Working Party, which evaluates socio-economic development projects, presented a new document on ML-1 to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) as Pakistan and China discuss the second phase of CPEC.
“The [ML-1] project is proposed to be financed through foreign funding under the CPEC framework agreement,” said the statement circulated by the ministry. “Pakistan Railways infrastructure is more than a century old and has outlived its useful life.”
“The original track which was built in late 19th century and early 20th century had been designed for low speeds and lesser axle loads which do not commensurate with the present-day loading patterns and desired speeds,” it added. “The Government of Pakistan aims to build necessary logistics facilities to support GDP growth and, in this regard, it intends to up-grade and modernize Pakistan Railways Network.”
The ministry said Pakistan Railways had become a financial burden on the national exchequer, adding that the $6.7 billion project could also make it a more financially and socially viable organization.
It maintained the project could ensure reduction in transportation costs, safety in mobility and effective connectivity between rural areas and markets in urban centers.
Additionally, it would integrate road and rail networks among various economic hubs, including air, sea and dry ports, while creating high-speed and -capacity transportation corridors connecting major regional trading partners.
“To achieve the government’s objective, a major up-gradation of the railway system has been planned, including increasing speed of passenger and freight trains, doubling of tracks of the main line sections, and increasing line capacity so as to facilitate rail linkages to Central Asian States, China and other neighboring countries,” it said.

ISLAMABAD: The United States this week returned 133 pieces of stolen antiquities valued over $13 million to Pakistan, state-run media reported, marking the fifth such transfer to the South Asian country from where artifacts dating back to the Gandhara period were stolen.

Artifacts are man-made objects, such as pieces of art or tools, that are of particular cultural, historical, or archaeological interest. 

The illegal antiquities trade is a multi-billion-dollar global industry according to a 2018 report by Standard Chartered Bank. The trade is also often a major funding source for criminal and militant groups on the supply side, according to a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). 

“The United States returned to Pakistan 133 pieces of stolen antiquities worth over $13 million at a ceremony at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York on Tuesday,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. 

Some of the antiquities were displayed during the ceremony at which Pakistani Consul General in New York Aamer Ahmed Atozai said the artifacts would adorn museums across Pakistan. 

“The consul general also signed an agreement with the Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, Matthew Bogdanos, who heads the Antiquities Trafficking Unit for the repatriation of the returned artifacts to Pakistan,” APP said. 

Bogdanos said he was delighted to return “glorious pieces of Pakistani heritage” to the country whose civilization dates back to 5,000 years, APP said. 

Pakistan and the US regularly collaborate to return stolen artifacts to Pakistan. In 2021, the US, after conducting a probe into an Indian-American art dealer Shubash Kapoor, had returned 192 stolen antiquities worth around $3.4 million.

In August 2022, the US again returned 104 artifacts valued at $3.3 million to Pakistan that were among thousands of antiquities looted from Asian countries and seized from Kapoor.