Monitoring Desk
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif agreed in a meeting in Beijing to launch a high-speed rail project that could cost $9.85 billion, Bloomberg newswire reported on Wednesday.
The two nations agreed to get started on the Main Line-1. That project involves upgrading a 1,163-mile, colonial-era track from Karachi to Peshawar to carry high-speed trains. Earlier this week, Pakistan formally approved the project, which has been in discussion for years, without saying where the funding would come from or providing technical details.
Officials in Pakistan have previously said they expected to get loans from China for the upgrade.
The US has in the past criticized China for using what it calls “debt diplomacy” to make developing nations more dependent on Beijing. Still, earlier this year China delayed a bailout for Pakistan as its debt soared, and it has been scaling back lending in Africa as its economy slows.
About 30 percent of Pakistan’s foreign debt is owed to China, including state-owned commercial banks, the International Monetary Fund said in a report in September.
In their talks, Xi and Sharif agreed to finalize details on an inner-city rail line in Karachi. The Chinese leader also said his nation would provide 500 million yuan ($68.7 million) to Pakistan to help it rebuild after flooding over the summer that displaced more than half a million people.
China will support Pakistan in stabilising its financial situation – Xi
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets Chinese President Xi Jinping during his two days visit in Beijing, China, November 2, 2022. Press Information Department (PID)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Reuters newswire quoted President Xi Jinping as saying, reported that China will continue to support Pakistan as it tries to stabilise its financial situation.
China’s central bank and the State Bank of Pakistan have signed a memorandum of cooperation recently for the establishment of an RMB clearing arrangement in Pakistan, in a bid to facilitate the use of RMB for cross-border transactions by enterprises and financial institutions in both countries, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday.
China and Pakistan should also move forward more effectively with the construction of their economic corridor, as well as accelerate the construction of infrastructure for the Gwadar Sea Port, Xi told Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People.
China has been involved in major mining and infrastructure projects in Pakistan, including the deep-water Gwadar port, all part of the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Xi added that the countries should work together to create conditions for the early implementation of the Mainline-1 (ML-1) railway upgrading project and the Karachi Circular Railway project.
China will also export technology for a 160 km/h high-speed railway train to Pakistan, state broadcaster CCTV said.
The developments and projects in Pakistan, a longtime Chinese ally, are part of Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to improve China’s road, rail and sea routes with the rest of the world.
China is willing to deepen cooperation in the digital economy, e-commerce, photovoltaic technology and other new energy-related areas, Xi said.
Sharif was one of the first leaders to meet Xi since he secured a third term as leader of the ruling Communist Party in October. (Content courtesy newswires)
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