ISLAMABAD - Pakistan expects relaxations from China as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prepares for an important visit to Beijing, officials said yesterday.
Prime Minister Sharif will embark on a crucial trip to China in the days to come. The date is being finalised through the diplomatic channels.
This week, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that Sharif’s “visit to China next month is expected to give a new impetus to CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) project.”
Diplomatic sources suggest that the Prime Minister would seek relaxation in the payment of Chinese debt after the decision that the country would not go to the Paris Club for rescheduling its $27 billion debt.
The IMF says Pakistan’s total non-Paris Club bilateral debt currently stands at about $27 billion, of which Chinese debt is about $23 billion. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar says that Pakistan needs around $34 billion during the current year to pay off debts and meet the current account deficit.
“The PM will seek help of the Chinese leadership in coming out of the financial crisis as we face the floods situation. We are hopeful China will be helpful as it has always been,” said a close aide of the PM.
Another official said Pakistan was expecting relaxations from China to move forward. “They will obviously listen to us and help us. They know the situation and have been supportive amid the floods,” he added.
CPEC, he said, will be another key matter to be discussed and the PM will reassure the Chinese leadership about expedited work on the CPEC projects.
The $60 billion CPEC is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi Jinping. China has historically come to Pakistan’s rescue with economic, political, and military assistance and the leadership of the two countries has often described their ties as “all-weather”.
This week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said China had always stood by Pakistan in difficult times and extended support both at the internal and external fronts for Islamabad.
