Ahsan Iqbal casts doubt on PTI govt's sincerity with CPEC projects.

Byline: Mohammad Hussain Khan

HYDERABAD -- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Ahsan Iqbal has cast doubt on Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government's sincerity with China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and said the present government takes different positions on CPEC in China and at home.

'They praise CPEC when they are in China by reiterating in joint declaration that CPEC has played an important role in Pakistan's development but start issuing inappropriate statements after they are back home,' said Mr Iqbal while speaking to journalists at a reception hosted in his honour by PML-N Sindh leader Shah Mohammad Shah here on Thursday night.

He expressed concern over the government's terming CEPC projects non-transparent and expensive in National Assembly and questioned whether the government was sincere with CPEC or not.

He said the PTI leaders used to allege lack of transparency in CPEC '...now that they are in power they must point out where is the lack of transparency and corruption'.

Mr Iqbal said the government itself tended to undermine ties with China by questioning CPEC projects. The government was neither aware of its importance nor was it trying to understand it as it had been treating CPEC as a political issue which had affected the project's pace, he said.

He hoped the prime minister must have understood that CPEC was a transparent and vital project for Pakistan after his recent visit to China. Pakistan claimed half the credit for the project and China was about to complete its part of the work but if Pakistan did not finish its part of the job, then CPEC projects would be affected, he said.

The former minister termed CPEC highly beneficial and a game changer for Pakistan, which was scheduled to be completed by 2030 in three phases. Pakistan and China had worked jointly and dedicatedly for the project, he said.

About recent foreign visits of the prime minister, the PML-N leader said that even a child knew that Pakistan...