ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday reassured Beijing of providing the “best possible security” to Chinese workers in the country, who have faced targeted attacks by separatist groups over the past couple of years.
Chinese targets have frequently been attacked by separatists from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, where Beijing is involved in huge infrastructure projects as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. The project is known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Three Chinese citizens were killed in a blast that targeted a van carrying Chinese citizens in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi in April. Last year, 13 people, including nine Chinese workers employed at the Dasu Hydropower Project in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were killed in a suicide blast attack.
In his opening remarks for CPEC’s Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting on Thursday, Iqbal said Pakistan is aware of security-related challenges posed to CPEC. He said the initiative “has been a target of propaganda as well as physical attacks.”
“The Government of Pakistan has taken a number of measures to ensure foolproof security to Chinese personnel working in Pakistan,” the minister said.
“We have been regularly updating the Embassy of China on the actions being taken in this regard. It is our commitment that the Chinese personnel will be given the best possible security while working in Pakistan,” Iqbal added.
China’s foreign minister has urged Pakistan to ensure stringent security measures for its citizens working in the country. The Dasy hydropower blast in 2021 had frayed relations between Islamabad and Beijing, and Pakistan later paid millions in compensation to the families of the Chinese workers killed.