2024-10-05 15:25:29
Islamabad: After hearing rebuke from Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Pakistan government has opened the treasury to protect Beijing’s project. Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif government on Thursday approved an additional budget of Pakistani rupees 45 billion for the armed forces. Its main objective is to protect China’s ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan. Of the Rs 45 billion, Rs 35.4 billion will be given to the Army and Rs 9.5 billion to the Pakistan Navy.
Army will protect China’s project
According to the report of Pakistani newspaper Tribune, Pakistan’s Finance Ministry has confirmed the approval of supplementary grant of Rs 45 billion. This is the second major supplementary grant approved for the armed forces after the approval of the budget in June. Earlier, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had given Rs 60 billion for Operation Azm-e-Istehkaam.
China’s pressure on Pakistan
Let us tell you that due to the increasing number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, China has put pressure on Islamabad to address its security concerns. Also demanded the signing of an agreement on anti-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan. China has also proposed setting up a joint company for the security of its citizens working in Pakistan. This means that China is trying to prepare its soldiers inside Pakistan.
China’s project in danger
China has invested $62 billion for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), but it seems to be sinking. The project work has not been completed yet. At the same time, Chinese citizens working in the project are being attacked by extremists in Pakistan. Five Chinese engineers were killed in a terrorist attack in March.
Under the first phase of CPEC, both sides have completed 38 projects worth $25.2 billion. These include 17 projects worth $18 billion in the energy sector. About 26 projects worth $26.8 billion are still in the pipeline and many of them have been included in CPEC Phase-2. However, security concerns have slowed down the pace of these projects.