Pakistan promises ‘fool-proof security’ to Chinese nationals after bus incident

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Saturday the government had once again promised “fool-proof security” to Chinese nationals involved in various infrastructure projects under the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative.
The assurance was formally communicated to the administration in Beijing during a lengthy phone call between the Pakistani minister and his Chinese counterpart Zhao Kezhi.
The conversation transpired only a few days after a blast on a bus in Pakistan’s northwestern region that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, and sent the vehicle crashing into a ravine.
The foreign office of Pakistan earlier claimed that the explosion was caused by a mechanical failure. However, the country’s information minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry later maintained in a Twitter post that investigators had found “traces of explosives” and it was difficult to rule out the possibility of terrorism.
Ahmed echoed the same view during a news conference in Islamabad, saying that the incident was orchestrated right ahead of the China-Pakistan Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting for maximum impact.
The meeting was canceled by officials in Beijing after the bus incident.
The Pakistani minister said he had briefed the Chinese official regarding the progress during the investigation which, he added, was in its final stage.
Ahmed noted such incidents could not jeopardize the strong bond which existed between Pakistan and China, adding that the “culprits and hidden hands” would soon be identified and brought to justice.