ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have resolved to undertake high-quality of development of a second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC 2.0, that would focus on industrialization, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.
The statement came after a 5th meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) was held in Beijing. It was co-chaired by Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.
China and Pakistan enjoy a close strategic partnership, with the latter’s location on the Arabian Sea providing Beijing an overland route toward the Gulf of Aden and onto the Suez Canal, and enabling Chinese ships to avoid the potential chokepoint of the Malacca Strait.
During the delegation level talks, the two sides reviewed with satisfaction the progress made since the 4th meeting of the JWG-ICC held in Islamabad in January 2024, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the high quality development of CPEC 2.0, with its emphasis on industrialization and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as well as on clean energy, agriculture and livelihood projects,” it said in a statement.
“The meeting also acknowledged the pivotal role of CPEC in promoting regional connectivity, win-win cooperation and common prosperity, including through partnerships with other countries.”
Since its initiation in 2013, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan. But the undertaking has been hit by Islamabad struggling to keep up its financial obligations as well as attacks on Chinese targets by militants.
During a visit to China in June last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced both countries had mutually decided to enhance economic cooperation that would enter its next phase with five new corridors.
The Chinese vice foreign minister said 2.0 would focus on growth, livelihood and innovation, and reinforce Pakistan’s national development framework centered on ‘5 Es,’ representing exports, e-Pakistan, energy, environment and equity.
Foreign Secretary Baloch described CPEC as the cornerstone of China-Pakistan economic cooperation as well as a “shining symbol” of the enduring friendship between the two countries.
Both sides expressed resolve to deepen cooperation in the fields of media, cultural exchanges and people-to-people linkages to accelerate the building of a “China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future in the New Era.”
Separately, both countries also held a 4th round of Pakistan-China Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC), at which they reaffirmed commitment to further deepening their partnership.
The two sides also exchanged views on a range of regional and international issues and agreed to further enhance their mutual coordination and consultations, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
“Both sides agreed to further deepen their mutual partnerships in sectors such as information technology, agriculture and clean energy, driven by the concept of win-win cooperation and pursuit of people centric, inclusive development,” it said.
“The two sides underscored the need to strengthen their mutual coordination at the multilateral forums, including at the United Nations Security Council.”
Later, the foreign secretary also held a meeting with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and exchanged views on Pakistan-China relations as well as regional and international issues of common interest.
Pakistan, China reaffirm commitment to ‘CPEC 2.0’ focusing on industrialization
https://arab.news/vjxf9
Pakistan, China reaffirm commitment to ‘CPEC 2.0’ focusing on industrialization
- Since 2013, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan
- CPEC 2.0 will focus on industrialization and special economic zones as well as on clean energy, agriculture and livelihood projects
Tirah Valley residents flee homes ahead of Pakistan’s planned anti-militant army offensive
- Families flee militant-hit region on days-long journeys amid bitter winter cold
- Cash aid announced but displaced residents cite lack of evacuation planning
PAINDA CHEENA, Pakistan: In the rugged mountains of Pakistan’s Tirah Valley, long lines of tractor-trolleys and mini-pickups inched toward a registration camp earlier this month.
The vehicles were stacked with bedding, food supplies and families escaping their homes as a military operation against militants looms in the conflict-striken northwestern region.
At the Painda Cheena registration point, 60-year-old Hajji Muhammad Yousuf sat wrapped in a shawl, waiting with dozens of others after traveling nearly 40 kilometers from his village in Maidan Tirah, a journey that took four days instead of the usual few hours. He still faces another 66-kilometer trip to Bara, near the northwestern city of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Like thousands of others, Yousuf is leaving behind a fully furnished home ahead of an expected security offensive in the volatile border region near Afghanistan.
“Today is our fourth night here,” Yousuf said. “We have left fully furnished houses behind ... There are no facilities, no amenities for us. We are facing great hardships.”
Officials say the evacuation could affect up to 20,000 families, marking a significant escalation in Pakistan’s campaign against the proscribed militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Despite major military operations in the mid-2010s, Tirah Valley has remained a stronghold for insurgents, prompting authorities to plan what they describe as a targeted clearance.
The scale of displacement has placed acute pressure on limited local infrastructure. While the journey from Maidan Tirah to the registration point at Mandi Kas normally takes around two hours by vehicle, congestion and verification procedures have stretched the trip into days for many families.
“Last night, a woman died of hunger in Sandana,” Yousuf said. “There is no arrangement for medicine, no doctor, no food, no washroom. Women and children are facing problems.”
Displaced residents say they feel trapped between militant threats and state action.
“We ourselves are opposing terrorism, yet we do not understand why, if a Taliban comes in the evening and we give bread, the government comes in the morning asking why the bread was given,” Yousuf said. “In the end, we were forced to do this [to leave].”
RELIEF MEASURES
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial government has announced a compensation package for displaced families. Talha Rafi, assistant commissioner for Bara, said authorities had set up 15 biometric counters at the registration site.
“One person receives a one-time compensation of Rs255,000 ($911), and a monthly Rs50,000 ($179) is provided,” he said, adding that SIM cards were being issued to ensure digital disbursement of funds.
Provincial officials say the payments are intended to cover basic needs during displacement, though residents and tribal elders argue that cash alone cannot offset the absence of shelter, health care and transport arrangements during evacuation.
The evacuation has also exposed tensions between the provincial government and Pakistan’s military establishment over the use of force in the region.
“We have neither allowed the operation nor will we ever allow the operation,” KP Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said, arguing that past military campaigns had failed to deliver lasting stability.
“These people are our own people. They are also the people of this state, the people of this province. We will definitely take care of them,” he said, adding that the KP cabinet had approved what he described as “a large package” for the displaced families.
Federal authorities and the military have signaled a firmer stance. While Federal Information Minister Ataullah Tarar and the military’s public relations wing did not respond to requests for comment, military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shareef Chaudhry has previously defended security operations as necessary.
In a recent briefing, Chaudhry said security forces carried out 75,175 intelligence-based operations nationwide last year, including more than 14,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, attributing the surge in violence to what he described as a “politically conducive environment” for militants.
Analysts say political divisions have allowed the TTP to regain ground.
Peshawar-based journalist Mehmood Jan Babar said many militants now operating in Tirah are local residents who returned after refusing settlement offers in remote parts of Afghanistan.
“Whenever we have seen division at the national level, the Taliban have taken advantage of it,” he said.
But for families waiting in freezing conditions at Painda Cheena, such strategic calculations offer little comfort. Tribal elders accuse civil authorities of ordering displacement without adequate logistical planning.
“The government has, without any administrative arrangements, ordered these people to migrate,” said Muhammad Khan Afridi, an elderly local resident. “You yourselves are seeing what suffering these people are facing, what humiliation they are experiencing.”
As a January 25 evacuation deadline approaches, uncertainty dominates daily life for those uprooted.
“Bringing peace is in the government’s hands,” Yousuf said. “It is up to them whether they normalize the situation or drive us out again tomorrow.”
