ISLAMABAD: China’s top diplomat to Pakistan on Friday rejected a statement by a US official cautioning the Pakistani government that energy and infrastructure projects with Beijing would entangle the South Asian nation in a web of loans and ultimately cripple its economy.
China launched the Belt and Road initiative in 2013, and according to data from Refinitiv, the total value of projects in the scheme is at $3.67 trillion, spanning countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and South America.
In Pakistan, Beijing has pledged about $60 billion for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
But in recent months, the flagship BRI initiative championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping has become mired in controversy, with some partner nations bemoaning the high cost of projects and western governments seeing it as a means to spread Chinese influence abroad and saddle poor countries with unsustainable debt.
Addressing participants of the 5th China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Media Forum, Ambassador Yao Jing recent comments by US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice G. Wells, calling them “a kind of propaganda and incitement.”
“Have you found any occasion when the Chinese government came asking you to pay back its money?” Yao said. “China will never ask for this kind of repayment as long as you are in need.”
Wells told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Thursday that CPEC would only profit Beijing and the United States offered a better model.
“It’s clear, or it needs to be clear, that CPEC is not about aid,” said the US official, adding that the multibillion-dollar initiative was driven by non-concessionary loans and primarily relied “on Chinese workers and supplies, even amid rising unemployment in Pakistan.”
The corridor “is going to take a growing toll on the Pakistan economy, especially when the bulk of payments start to come due in the next four to six years,” she added.
In response, Yao, flanked by notable Pakistani and Chinese panelists, said Pakistan’s “biggest creditor” was “the West, not China.”
“The United States is the biggest loan taker in the world. Even China has given them credit of $3 trillion. They are extending aid to other countries, but I would like to ask them why they have suspended their assistance [to Pakistan],” the Chinese ambassador said.
Chinese envoy calls US CPEC warning ‘propaganda and incitement’
Chinese envoy calls US CPEC warning ‘propaganda and incitement’
- Yao was responding to comments by US diplomat Alice G. Wells that CPEC would straddle Pakistan in debt, cripple economy
- “Have you found any occasion when Chinese government came asking you to pay back its money?” envoy asks Pakistani audience
Pakistan accuses India of manipulating Chenab flows, seeks clarification under Indus Waters Treaty
- Foreign office spokesperson says sudden variations in river flows threaten agriculture, food security and livelihoods downstream
- He also condemns a niqab-removal incident in India, calling it part of a broader pattern of religious intolerance and Islamophobia
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it had observed abrupt variations in the flow of the River Chenab during the ongoing month, accusing India of manipulating river flows at a critical point in the agricultural cycle and saying it had written to New Delhi seeking clarification.
Local media reported quoted Pakistani officials as saying India released about 58,000 cusecs of water at Head Marala on Dec. 7–8 before sharply reducing flows to roughly 870–1,000 cusecs through Dec. 17, far below the 10-year historical average of 4,000–10,000 cusecs for this period.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi told a weekly media briefing in Islamabad India had failed to share prior information or operational data on the Chenab flows, a practice he said New Delhi had previously followed under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. New Delhi said earlier this year it had put the treaty “in abeyance” following a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that it blamed on Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied, calling instead for an impartial and transparent international investigation.
Pakistan also described India’s unilateral suspension of the treaty as a violation of international law and an “act of war.”
“Pakistan would like to reiterate that the Indus Waters Treaty is a binding international agreement, which has been an instrument of peace and security and stability in the region,” Andrabi said. “Its breach or violation, on one hand, threatens the inviolability of international treaties in compliance with international law, and on the other hand, it poses serious threats to regional peace, principles of good neighborliness, and norms governing interstate relations.”
Andrabi said Pakistan viewed the sudden variations in the Chenab’s flow with “extreme concern and seriousness,” saying the country’s Indus Waters Commissioner had written to his Indian counterpart seeking clarification in line with procedures outlined in the treaty.
“Any manipulation of river flow by India, especially at a critical time of our agricultural cycle, directly threatens the lives and livelihoods, as well as food and economic security of our citizens,” he continued. “We call upon India to respond to the queries raised by Pakistan.”
He said Pakistan had fulfilled its obligations under the Indus Waters Treaty and urged the international community to take note of India’s “continued disregard” of a bilateral treaty and to counsel New Delhi to act responsibly under international law.
Andrabi maintained Pakistan remained committed to peaceful resolution of disputes with India but would not compromise on its water rights.
In the same briefing, he also condemned an incident in which the chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar was seen in a video forcibly removing the niqab of a Muslim woman during a public interaction, followed by remarks by a minister in Uttar Pradesh who mocked the episode, saying it reflected a broader pattern of religious intolerance and Islamophobia and warranted strong condemnation.
