Transparency needed at all levels
With the CPEC being the flagship of the One Road, One Belt (OBOR) project, Nawaz Sharif will be treated as a prominent participant at the summit. He would address the high level dialogue as well as both the sessions of the leaders’ roundtable, besides being one of the three leaders to address the concluding session. Apart from 29 heads of state and government, representatives of 61 international organisations and delegates from 110 countries, the secretary-general of the UN, the presidents of the World Bank and the IMF will also be at the summit. This will provide an opportunity to the Pakistani delegation to interact with relevant leaders to enhance diplomatic and business ties.
Despite China’s invitation, India declined to attend the summit. So did a number of western countries which have otherwise good bilateral relations with Beijing. The organisers of the moot would hopefully remove their reservations by clarifying further the aims and the utility of the OBOR.
Nawaz Sharif is accompanied this time by a high level delegation comprising the four Chief Ministers, a number of federal ministers and high level officials. Had the provinces been associated with the CPEC right from the beginning, the Corridor would not have generated the controversy which forced Beijing to intervene, making it possible for the chief ministers of the smaller provinces to visit China to get some of their reservations addressed.
The CPEC has brought huge investments from China when businessmen from other countries were hesitant to bring capital to Pakistan. The project would help considerably fulfil Pakistan’s energy needs, improve its infrastructure and increase connectivity. An important question however remains unanswered due to a continuing lack of transparency on the part of the PML-N government. Fears have been expressed that the country might be saddled with costly external loans and outflows forcing Pakistan to go for another bailout. With the Chinese manpower’s prominent presence in the projects questions remain unanswered about how many jobs are being created for Pakistanis. Similar questions have been raised about the participation of Pakistani entrepreneurs in the implementation of the CPEC.
The government has to be upfront about the questions being raised. Absence of transparency will continue to generate suspicions.