ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed the interior ministry to beef up security for the Chinese workers associated with different projects in the country.
In a meeting held in Islamabad on Monday to review the progress on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related projects, the prime minister said that all projects under the CPEC will be completed within stipulated time.
During the meeting, the Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal gave a detailed briefing to the prime minister about the corridor projects.
Nawaz Sharif said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor will become game-changer for the entire region.
Sharif said that China is Pakistan’s friend and strategic partner, and instructed the interior ministry to enhance security for the Chinese nationals.
The $46 billion CPEC project was signed when the Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a two-day official visit to Pakistan on April 20-21.
Under the project, Pakistan’s southern port city of Gwadar will be connected with China’s northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang via a network of highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas.
On October 30, at a meeting on CPEC project monitoring arrangements in Islamabad, Sharif said that the he would soon inaugurate the Western route of the CPEC, adding that the project would generate new employment opportunities and increase business activities and would play vital role in decrease of poverty in Pakistan.
The prime minister said that the timely completion of CPEC was included in the priorities of government.
