KARACHI: The Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) on Tuesday denied reports of a Chinese-only housing project being planned for those working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“Chinese nationals in Gwadar live within the port and free zone’s financed areas,” GDA Director-General Dr. Sajjad Hussain Baloch told Arab News.
There are media reports that 3.6 million square feet of land has been bought by the China-Pakistan Investment Corp. (CPIC) to build a $150 million gated community for 500,000 Chinese nationals.
“This will be the first such Chinese city in South Asia,” an Indian newspaper reported. “Only Chinese citizens will live in this gated zone, which basically means that Pakistan will be used as a colony of China.” The newspaper reported that there is considerable local resentment about this.
But Baloch said: “There’s no such scheme on the cards. No Chinese-specific project is going to be built.”
Yang Ming, an official at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, did not respond to queries from Arab News about the project.
But an official in Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning and Development said news of such a project “is completely false and in line with earlier news reports against CPEC.”
Senior analyst Ahmed Iqbal Baloch described such reports as propaganda against CPEC. “Some real estate developers also float such news in order to attract investment in their projects,” he told Arab News.
Pakistan denies reports of Chinese-only housing project
Pakistan denies reports of Chinese-only housing project
Peace can only prevail if Afghanistan renounces support for ‘terrorism’— Pakistan defense chief
- Pakistan’s chief of defense forces visits South Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan
- Pakistan says has killed 481 Afghan Taliban operatives since clashes began last Thursday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said on Wednesday that peace with Afghanistan can only prevail if Kabul renounces support for “terrorism” and “terrorist” organizations, the military’s media wing said as the two countries remain locked in conflict.
Fighting between the two neighbors, the worst in decades, broke out last Thursday night after Afghan forces attacked Pakistan’s military installations along their shared border. Afghanistan said its attacks were in response to earlier airstrikes by Pakistan against alleged militant hideouts in its country.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering militant outfits such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its soil who have launched attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent years. Kabul denies the allegations.
Munir visited Wana town in Pakistan’s South Waziristan district to review the security situation and troops’ operational preparedness at the Afghan border, the Pakistani military’s media wing said in a statement.
“The Field Marshal reiterated that peace could only prevail between both sides if the Afghan Taliban renounced their support for terrorism and terrorist organizations,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The military chief said the use of Afghan soil by militant outfits to launch attacks against Pakistan was unacceptable, vowing that “all necessary measures” would be taken to neutralize cross-border threats.
During the visit, Munir was briefed by military commanders about ongoing intelligence-based operations and measures being taken by the military to manage the border with Afghanistan.
He was also briefed about “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq” or “Wrath for the Truth,” the name Pakistan has given to its military operation against Afghan forces, the ISPR said.
The Pakistani military chief spoke to troops deployed in the area, praising their vigilance, professional conduct and high morale, the ISPR said.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the military has killed 481 Taliban operatives, injured more than 690 and destroyed 226 Afghan checkposts since clashes began.
Arab News has been unable to verify claims by both sides about the damages they claim to have inflicted on each other.
Afghanistan has signaled it is open for dialogue but Pakistan rejected the offer, saying it would continue its military operations till its objectives were achieved.
Since the conflict began, diplomatic efforts have intensified with several countries, including global bodies such as the European Union and United Nations, urging restraint and calling for talks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Ankara would help reinstate a ceasefire, the Turkish Presidency said on Tuesday, as other countries that had offered to mediate have since been hit by the conflict in the Gulf.
