BEIJING: China on Tuesday downplayed reports about its
reservations over the PoK stretch of the USD 46 billion economic corridor it
has planned with Pakistan, saying the project would not affect the positions
held by the parties to the Kashmir dispute.
"The
ownership of the Kashmir region is an issue between India and Pakistan left
over from history and should be resolved through dialogues and consultations
between the two sides," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei
told a media briefing here.
He
made the remarks in reply to a question on reports that China is concerned over
the "disputed status" of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) through
which the about 3,000 km-long China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is
proposed to pass.
The
project plans to connect China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port on the
Arabian Sea.
"Relevant
cooperation between China and Pakistan in the region aims to promote local
economic and social development.
It
does not target any third party nor affect the positions held by different
parties on the relevant dispute," Hong said.
Recent
reports in Pakistan said following China's concerns, Islamabad is weighing
options to elevate the constitutional status of northern Gilgit-Baltistan
region of the PoK to provide legal cover to the mega corridor plan, marking a
historic shift in stand to keep it out of its Constitutional ambit.
Gilgit-Baltistan
has never been formally integrated into the Pakistani state and does not
participate in Pakistan's Constitutional political affairs.
Hong
did not directly respond to the question on China's concerns over the disputed
region but Pakistani media reports quoted an official as saying that Beijing
was apprehensive about future legal complications.
"China
cannot afford to invest billions of dollars on a road that passes through a
disputed territory claimed both by India and Pakistan," the official was
quoted as saying.
Outwardly,
China has been maintaining that this project will not have any impact on the
PoK's "disputed status" but the efforts by the Pakistani government
to look for options to change the status of Gilgit-Baltistan has come as a
surprise to observers here.
India
has been protesting the corridor's passing through PoK to China ever since the
project was kicked off by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Islamabad
last year.
Hong
also responded to questions over the brewing discontentment in some of the
Pakistani regions and discord among the political parties over the benefits of
the project being harnessed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Punjab province.
Replying
to a question about scepticism prevailing among many Pakistanis over the
project, Hong said the corridor is an important consensus reached by leaders of
the two countries.
"It
will cover the entire state of Pakistan and deliver benefits to the entire
population of Pakistan. It will also promote the common prosperity and
development of not only China and Pakistan but a also other countries in the
region," he said.
Hong
also said the project construction will take a long time and will be built in a
step by step manner.
"The
building of the economic corridor is a systematic work that will take a long
time," he said adding that it will constructed in a step by step manner
following "scientific planning".
"We
would like to make joint efforts with Pakistan to implement the project, make
long term plan and push for new progress in the building of the economic
corridor," he said.
Reports
in the Pakistani media have also quoted Chinese Embassy in Islamabad as saying
that, "China hopes that the relevant parties in Pakistan could strengthen
communication and coordination on the CPEC to create favourable conditions for
the project."
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