An all parties conference (APC) held on Saturday demanded that smaller provinces should be give their rights and that Balochistan has the first right over Gwadar.
Addressing the APC in Quetta, Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan said that the original route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should not change.
“We welcomed the Chinese president’s visit, and we support Chinese aid to Pakistan,” the ANP chief said. “But that is not where the problem is. The problem is in Islamabad.”
Referring to Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s statements in which he had said that those opposing the current route are traitors, the ANP chief said that such statements do not affect him.
“When Pakhtoon and Baloch prosper, is that Pakistan’s prosperity or destruction?” he asked.
Wali pointed out that the economic corridor agreement was originally made under the Zardari government in 2012.
“We are not making this issue controversial rather it’s the government that’s making it controversial,” Wali said, adding that he had raised some questions with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during the briefing on the CPEC in Islamabad two days ago but the PM had avoided answering those questions.
“Give us the details of the agreement between the federal government and the Balochistan government on Gwadar,” he posed the questions again.
“Tell us how the income from Gwadar will be distributed between the federal government and the Balochistan government?”
“We need answers to these questions,” he added.
The APC declaration held that smaller provinces should be give their rights, that Balochistan has first rights over Gawadar and that the Balochistan Assembly’s February 28 resolution be implemented.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah, who was also at the conference, said that the federal government was creating hurdles in the progress of the CPEC.
“No political party but the government itself is hindering work on CPEC,” he added.