ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing has said the resistance movement in Balochistan is not a threat to Pakistan, China or the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) anymore.

In an interview to BBC, he said the law and order situation in Pakistan had improved considerably compared to the past.

Banned organisations operating in Balochistan have frequently issued statements against the CPEC and claimed several attacks on workers working on the CPEC project.

In fact, he said, Baloch rebels were not real Pakistanis. “Had they been real Pakistanis, they would have thought about Pakistan’s national interest,” he said.

Yao Jing however said he was 100 percent sure that Gwadar Port was going to become an international trade hub soon.

It is worth mentioning here that armed Baloch groups have been operating in Balochistan for the last one decade and they consider themselves real owners of Balochistan’s natural resources.

The Chinese ambassador said that nearly 10,000 Chinese nationals were working on CPEC project in Pakistan and China was satisfied with the measures taken by Pakistan for their security. He said that nearly 60,000 Pakistanis were also working on the CPEC project. He said that CPEC was in its first phase, work on 21 projects was under way, and 20 projects were in the pipeline.

Yao Jing said that CPEC would be expanded to other neighbouring countries of the region, including Afghanistan. About Pakistan-Afghanistan relations and peace in Afghanistan, he said that China wanted good relations between the two countries and it was also making efforts for reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Responding to a question, the Chinese ambassador said his country had no influence over the Taliban, but it was in touch with their political office in Qatar. He said that his country had repeatedly asked the Taliban to take part in talks.–Monitoring Desk