World News | Pak Appoints New Pointman for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Islamabad, Aug 3 (PTI) Pakistan on Tuesday appointed a new pointman for the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to expedite the implementation of various projects.

A notification issued by the Prime Minister's Office said Khalid Mansoor has been appointed as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs with immediate effect. The appointment will be in an honorary capacity, it added.

Mansoor with over four decades of corporate experience replaced retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, who was appointed in November 2019 after his retirement from the army.

The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of China's ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.

The BRI is seen as an attempt by China to further its influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.

The initiative also led to allegations of smaller countries reeling under mounting Chinese debt after Sri Lanka gave its Hambantota port in a debt swap to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)