One thing some countries in the region, and some far away, really liked about the pandemic was that it suddenly created chances of derailing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in their opinion. Once credit markets dried they thought it was only natural for such large funding to cease as well, at least for a while, and not just because China was believed to be the epicenter of the virus; something that new evidence now seems to contradict. Yet the Chinese remained resolute in their commitment to the project, which is in effect the flagship program of Beijing’s revolutionary Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). And Pakistan hasn’t even noticed the slightest glitch in the progress of the mega project so far.
Now that such reports have surfaced once again in the Indian media, the Chinese foreign ministry has stepped into the debate to kill all sorts of rumours, which in itself shows how high CPEC is on the priority list in the Middle Kingdom. Talking about CEPC, their spokesman said, “Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no stop of the construction, no job cut and no withdrawal of workforce.” In fact, he went on to clarify, China’s input in the BRI, including CPEC, has increased despite the global recession.
One very important lesson that Pakistan can learn from its all-weather friend China is the importance of planning for the long term. They plan well into the future, and then get down to the job of putting all the blocks in place one by one no matter how long it takes. And CPEC is no doubt a godsend for Pakistan. For if it hadn’t been for this project there is no way that this country’s rotting infrastructure could have got such a quick and thorough face-lift. Both Islamabad and New Delhi are of course very well aware of just which countries’ interest it is in to act against this project. Washington has been dead against BRI right from the beginning because anything that cements China’s rise in the region and in the world is anathema to the United States. And everybody knows that America’s number-one henchman in the region is now India, that is why it has been placed at the centre of the Pivot to Asia policy and showered with rare gifts such as the nuclear power deal. But so far all their efforts to hurt CPEC have failed very badly. *
