Chinese President Xi Jingping has ended his two-day visit of Pakistan, leaving behind a legacy of friendship beyond prevailing diplomatic norms. Dozens of documents of mutual cooperation have been signed during his visit and promising projects are likely to be started in Pakistan soon. But the main concern for the countries is security situation of Pakistan which could not rid itself of terrorism.An army operation against terrorists has been going on which means the country is still facing a war-like situation.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army has decided to deploy a special security division on the project sites for the security and protection of the Chinese workers. According to a press release from the Inter Services Public Relations,a special security division, comprising army battalions and CAF wings, is being raised as a dedicated force for Pak-China economic projects. The army is creating a special security division for the protection of Chinese engineers, project directors, experts and workers employed on various Chinese funded projects across the country.
On another note, the Upper house of the parliament has passed a draft bill, The Securities Bill, 2015, amending and consolidating law for the regulation of the securities industry and the protection of investors. A special security division is also being set up for the Pak-China Economic Corridor. The division will comprise nine battalions of the Pakistan Army and six battalions of civilian security forces to be deployed on the security of foreigners and Pakistanis working on the construction of corridor.
According to the media reports,security fears linger over the project which involves construction of a major highway, especially in Balochistan where foreign funding is fuelling insurgency in the province. It says that away from handshakes and backslapping, there are real security concerns over much of the plan, which relies on developing Gwadar – control of which had been passed over to a Chinese company in 2013.
The port lies near the Strait of Hormuz through which much of the crude production passes from the Gulf countries. However, linking Gwadar to the rest of the country and on to the western Chinese city of Kashgar, 3,000 kilometres away, will involve major infrastructure work in Balochistan. As a matter of fact, the insurgents, who are alive on the behest of Indian money, will try to disrupt any effort to improve infrastructure and economy of the Balochistan province. The government must remove the blanket of fear from the province if it wants to improve the economic condition of common man.
