LONDON: British newspaper Financial Times claimed that the government of Pakistan is pondering to review the agreements made under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its Belt and Road initiative.
The story published in FT claims that Pakistani ministers and advisers said the newly-elected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will review ‘BRI investments and renegotiate trade agreements signed more than a decade ago that it says unfairly benefits Chinese companies’.
It was further claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the economic council to present a complete financial report on the CPEC.
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The report further mentions that Pakistan, despite being economically unstable, wants a way out of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and considers projects with Saudi Arabia and China as alternatives to bolster the economy.
Finance Minister Asad Umar said talking to the FT that “he was evaluating a plan that would allow Islamabad to avoid an IMF programme”. FT also said that Asad was careful about not ‘offending’ China even though the process of reviewing CPEC agreements was necessary.
Advisor to PM on commerce and trade Abdul Razzak Dawood told the FT that Chinese companies were taking unfair advantage and slammed the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for not doing its homework.