Reuters fileA long-term plan document of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has identified the politics and security situation in Pakistan as the biggest risk to the $54-billion project, reports the Dawn newspaper. “There are various factors affecting Pakistani politics, such as competing parties, religion, tribes, terrorists, and Western intervention,” the document notes. The 231-page CPEC long-term plan document envisages a deep and broad-based penetration of most sectors of Pakistan’s economy as well as its society by Chinese enterprises and culture. While its main aim is to connect South Xinjiang with Pakistan, the CPEC corridor “spans Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and whole Pakistan in spatial range”. As a CPEC entreport, the plan recommends that Gwadar port be built into “a base of heavy and chemical industries, such as iron and steel/ petrochemical”.

Source: Indian Express May 15, 2017 21:07 UTC