Tag: Pakistan-China ties

  • PM Imran Khan to inaugurate important projects in Gwadar today

    PM Imran Khan to inaugurate important projects in Gwadar today

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will be on a day-long visit to Gwadar today, accompanied by his federal ministers.

    As per reports, PM Khan will inaugurate Gwadar Free Zone, the Expo Centre, Agricultural Industrial Park as well as three factories to boost economic activity in the region.

    Focal Person to the Chief Minister of Punjab on Digital Media, Azhar Mashwani, tweeted that PM is also expected to lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects in the city, which includes water supply projects and a desalination plant. that would solve the problems of Gwadar residents related to water and electricity.

    PM will interact with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) workforce.

    Through video link, major expressions of investment by the Chinese investors and the ambassadors of Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Kenya, and Qatar are also expected, according to sources.

    PM’s last visit to Balochistan was in April.

  • CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga lashes out at Pakistan for not speaking up for Uyghur Muslims

    CNN’s Senior Global Affairs Analyst and anchorperson Bianna Golodryga who earlier labelled Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi “anti-Semitic” after she interviewed him on the ongoing violence in Gaza has now called out Pakistanis for not speaking up for Uyghur Muslims.

    Sharing a news story by Vice media about the crackdown by Pakistan on Uyghur Muslims who fled China, Bianna wrote: “Even though Pakistan is the only country in the world created as a Muslim nation, the promise of Chinese money seemingly overpowers the desires to stop what is happening to Uyghur Muslims.”

    Born in 1978, Bianna Vitalievna Golodryga is a senior global affairs analyst at CNN. She has previously served in Yahoo! News, ABC Network, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, and CBS.

  • Pakistan wants China to ease terms on debt repayment, says report

    Pakistan has approached China with an informal request to ease terms on the repayment of debt on about a dozen power plants set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor over the past eight years, Bloomberg reported.

    “The parties have canvassed Beijing’s willingness to stagger debt payments, as opposed to lowering equity returns,” the report said, adding that Pakistan has yet to make a formal offer. The report claimed that “Pakistan will formally make the request…after it concludes deals with those local power producers to reduce electricity tariffs”.

    A spokesperson at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they aren’t aware of Pakistan’s plan to seek debt relief.

    “Energy projects have provided Pakistan with a large amount of stable and low-priced electricity, effectively reducing the overall price of electricity in Pakistan,” the spokesperson told Bloomberg. “China-Pakistan energy cooperation has progressed smoothly and brought about real economic and social benefits,” it quoted the official as saying.

    Pakistan’s power division didn’t respond to the US-based business media outlet for comments.

    According to Bloomberg, an enormous build-out of Chinese-financed power plants in Pakistan, which was originally intended to solve its electricity shortages, has resulted in a surplus that Islamabad isn’t able to afford.

    While Chinese financing has helped Pakistan diversify fuel supplies, it has also resulted in a surplus of electricity, which is problematic for the government in Islamabad because it is the sole buyer and pays producers even when they don’t generate. To help tackle the issue, the government has negotiated with power plants, which produce roughly half of its electricity, to lower rates.

    After these negotiations, the government will approach the Chinese government for debt relief, it added.