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Beijing, November 20
China on Monday dismissed a top Pakistani Army General’s allegation that India had established a special intelligence cell at a cost of USD 500 million to sabotage the strategic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying it did not have any such report.
Chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mehmood Hayat on November 14 had accused India of stoking “chaos and anarchy” in the region.
He alleged that India’s external intelligence agency RAW had established a special cell at a cost of USD 500 million to sabotage the CPEC. He also accused India of fanning terrorism in the restive province of Balochistan.
“We have no such relevant reports,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing when asked about the allegation.
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China’s rebuff over the allegation against India is significant considering that Beijing and Islamabad regard themselves as “iron brothers” sharing “all-weather ties”.
Also in an apparent reference to India’s objections over the CPEC traversing through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Lu said “we hope that CPEC could win more recognition and support from regional countries and the international community”.
Pakistan’s top officials have been accusing RAW of sabotaging the CPEC as the Pakistani security forces had to battle numerous attacks by the Balochistan nationalist forces as well as the Islamic State in Balochistan province.
The CPEC connects China’s restive Xinjiang province with Gwadar Port in Balochistan.
Lu said the CPEC is new-type cooperation framework built by China and Pakistan for long-term cooperation development.
“It is important not just to the common development of China and Pakistan but also regional connectivity and common prosperity,” he said.
He said China believed that it could work with Pakistan to ensure the success of the CPEC and the economic cooperation in various fields between the two countries. PTI
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