Islamabad [Pakistan], February 19 (ANI): A cabinet committee on Pakistan's CPEC project has surrendered 20 acres of prime land in the port city of Gwadar in favour of its Navy after they refused to vacate the land citing "security reasons".

Besides this, the CPEC committee again told Pakistan Navy to vacate another 52 acres of land, said The Express Tribune newspaper report. It added that occupation was hampering work on Gwadar Port.

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The land currently in possession of the Navy is part of the concessional agreement that country signed in November 2015 with China Overseas Port Holdings Company Limited (COPHCL). Earlier, the CPEC committee had not accepted Pakistan Navy's plea, requesting permission to keep 20 acres of land.

Pakistan's Planning Minister Asad Umar told The Express Tribune that "until the Chinese contractors agreed, the land could not be given to Pakistan Navy."

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Back in February 2021, the CPEC Committee had directed different ministries to get 72 acres of prime Gwadar land vacated.

According to the Pakistani newspaper, the delay in getting the land vacated slowed down work on projects that were very critical for the full functioning of Gwadar Port.

In 2015, China announced an economic project in Pakistan worth USD 46 billion. With the CPEC, Beijing aims to expand its influence in Pakistan and across Central and South Asia in order to counter the influence of the United States and India.

The CPEC project would link Pakistan's southern Gwadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China's western Xinjiang region. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)