CPEC JWG to meet soon to cuscus security matters

Islamabad: Pakistan and China will soon hold a meeting of the Joint Working Group of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to discuss the security of the CPEC projects.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal convened a meeting of CPEC Joint Working Group on security after Eid – being celebrated from May 3 to May 5,.

The meeting will be chaired by the Federal Minister for Planning and will be attended by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah along with senior security officials.

The meeting will review the overall security of CPEC projects and Chinese citizens. The JWG on Security meeting will be updated regarding the progress of the investigation of Karachi University incident.

Last week four people including three Chinese citizens and one Pakistani were killed in a suicide bombing at Karachi University’s premises. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already directed the interior ministry to engage provinces for the provision of security to CPEC projects.

Pakistani government is likely to approve a project for the provision of security to the Chinese working on the proposed Up-gradation of Pakistan Railways Mainline-1 (ML-1).

National Assembly’s Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan CPEC had noted that most of the burden of security was being shouldered by the army and said that police and other stakeholders should also play their role in dispensation of security mechanism.

The committee chairman Sher Ali Arbab, while highlighting gap in coordination at various levels among ministries/divisions responsible for security of CPEC, recommended that the meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on security of CPEC from the Pakistan side be held regularly and its minutes be shared with the committee.