And protecting it
So the Corridor finally takes off. The government, as well as the military, must be congratulated. If this is played right it can indeed be the game changer Pakistan so desperately needs. And it’s a good thing that the security establishment has been busy with the cleanup job since ’14, around when Zarb-e-Azb commenced. Some say, especially in Islamabad, that the Chinese were pushing for action against militants since the lal masjid standoff of the Musharraf days; and not just because radicals took some Chinese citizens captive or because of their interference in Xianjiang. Apparently grand trade and commerce ideas were being worked on in Beijing for quite a while, since long before PML-N could take credit for any of it.
Yet security remains a big problem, not the least in Balochistan. To gloss over it now, in wider national interest at a sensitive time, etc, would amount to brushing the existential threat under the carpet at just the wrong time. The eve of the CPEC celebration, to give just one example, saw the third high-profile hit in Balochistan in as many months. The collective death toll is well into the hundreds, with many more hundred mutilated and injured. Once more the government has pointed the finger to ‘foreign hands’, even though other foreign and local hands have taken responsibility. And this has happened, once again, in an area where attacks continue despite very heavy security presence. Not attending to the threat now, when we would much rather celebrate all the good that CPEC will bring, would risk not only more innocent lives that fall victim to terrorist attacks, but also the project itself.
As appreciated as progress on CPEC is, and as vital as it has become to our national interest, a cold analysis of the present situation presents plenty that is of concern. Economic progress will simply run into hurdle after hurdle if the security situation is not up to scratch. Pakistan should have learnt this lesson better than most by now. There should be no room for denial or complacency. The existential war has gone well so far, but it is far from won. And as CPEC leads the way to better economic times, hopefully, it is important to finally win this war against terrorism so unnecessary hiccups are minimised, if not eliminated.
