The Awami National Party (ANP) has announced to convene a multi-party conference in Quetta on May 16 to discuss the issue of Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its proposed route.
ANP and other Baloch nationalist parties claim that Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been ignored in the 3,000 kilometres long Gwadar-Kashghar route of CPEC. “We have approached and invited all political parties to the APC,” ANP leader Mian Iftikhar told a news conference.
The party has also announced to hold a shutterdown strike in Quetta on May 6 against the reported change in CPEC. Iftikhar claimed that the federal government has deliberately created a controversy, neglecting the smaller provinces. “We will resist any change in route,” warned the former KP information minister.
The ANP delegation, led by Mian Iftikhar, had a detailed meeting with Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch, PML-N Balochistan chief Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and other political leaders with regard to CPEC.
Iftikhar stated that if the route is changed or altered then the federal government will be held responsible for every kind of unrest. He said the deprivation of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was at peak and that Islamabad was not paying heed to the sufferings of smaller provinces.
Iftikhar claimed that the rulers have ignored the people of Gwadar in terms of development activities. “Rulers must take people of Gwadar into confidence before taking any decision”, the ANP leader stressed.
