ISLAMABAD: Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal was chairing an All Parties Conference (APC) on Sunday to address reservations on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and develop political consensus on the multi-billion-dollar economic project.
The APC was being attended by Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak, Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, PPP senior leader Farhatullah Babar, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Liaqat Baloch, PML-N leader Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Deputy Chairman Senate and JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, JUI-F’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, PML-Q leader Mushahid Hussain, ANP leader Mian Iftikhar Ahmed, and others. Leaders of religious and political parties were expressing their views on the CPEC project.
In a separate but related development on Saturday, China urged Pakistani political parties to develop consensus and fix their differences to create favourable conditions for the economic corridor project.
“China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is the consensus reached between China and Pakistan, and has won popular support from the two peoples. The CPEC faces Pakistan as a whole, and will bring development and benefits to the people of Pakistan,” a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy said in a statement here on Saturday.
“We hope that relevant parties could strengthen communication and coordination, solve differences properly, so as to create favourable conditions for the CPEC. We are ready to work with Pakistani side to actively promote construction of the CPEC projects, and bring tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries.”
