Pakistan’s finance minister blames India for concerted effort to subvert CPEC

LONDON: The finance minister of Pakistan has blamed India for trying to threaten CPEC thought ‘terrorist intervention’ in Balochistan. He made these remarks while talking to BBC Hardtalk on Wednesday.

Asad Umar was praising China-Pakistan nexus and ‘counting’ CPEC’s economic benefits when the Hardtalk show host Stephen Sackur reminded of attacks on CPEC related projects by Baloch fighters saying, ‘it is a little bit embarrassing that at the time you were taking delegate from more than twenty countries to look at the potential of all of these projects, gunmen shot dead three workers, injured five others and that was the fourth fatal shooting in the area in just a few short months. The security situation, the degree of insecurity around that region and the anger that I have referred to that is generated among some by what is happening that is a real threat to stability in Balochistan.

The Pakistani minister tried to brush away the embarrassment saying, ‘this not the anger of the people of Balochistan, these activities of sponsored terrorists who receive training, funding and material from outside Pakistan and is there as serious attempt to destabilise Balochistan and through that try and subvert CPEC? Of course, there is. There is concerted effort to do that, so there no disagreement there.’

The BBC journalist interrupted him and asked about the external forces to which the Pakistani minister spew venom against India by saying, ‘Lead by India of course. So, is there a terrorist intervention in Balochistan? Absolutely yes, what the people of Balochistan thought, that has been expressed through the free will of those people by electing a government of Balochistan which stands by CPEC which wants greater engagement of CPEC in their province.’

It is pertinent to remind our readers that on 31 October 2018 armed men attacked the personnel of a construction company in Gunz area of Jiwani about 80km from the port city of Gwadar.

The deceased were reportedly working on a CPEC related housing scheme.

The spokesperson of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Azad Baloch, had called media sources and accepted responsibility for Gwadar attack.

Azad Baloch had said that China and Pakistan were building around seventy (70) housing schemes under the exploitative China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project to colonise the Baloch land. ‘The site attacked today was part of CPEC project’, he added.

The BLA spokesperson had also said that Pakistan organised a conference of twenty-six countries in the name of ‘Asian Parliamentarian Assembly – APA’ in its attempt assert the legality of its illegal occupation in Balochistan.

‘Today’s attack is a clear message to China and all other countries that Balochistan is an occupied territory.  We warn China to halt working on all the projects including a planned naval base in Jiwani Balochistan. The BLA will continue to resist against the occupation of Baloch Ocean and coastal belt, Azad Baloch said.

There is a growing anger against China-Pakistan nexus in Balochistan and the pro-freedom Baloch armed groups and political parties have often accused China of being complicit of Pakistan’s genocidal policies against Baloch people.

On the international level, all Baloch political parties including the Baloch National Movement, the Baloch Republican Party and the Free Balochistan Movement continue their peaceful protests against China in different countries. The Hyrbyair Marri led Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) has been at the forefront of campaigning against China’s exploitative policies in Balochistan. It has organised at least two – one-week – sit-in protests against China in London and simultaneous co-ordinated world-wide protests in America, Germany, Canada, Netherlands and other countries.