India wants to sabotage CPEC: Pakistani Interior Minister

Pakistan is effectively pursuing Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in the International Court of Justice as it is proof of Indias intentions to sabotage the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through "terrorism", Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, Iqbal said the CPEC was the result of unprecedented friendship between China and Pakistan.

The CPEC is a flagship project of China's Belt and Road initiative. The 3,000 km, over $50 billion corridor stretches from Kashgar in western China to Gwadar port in Pakistan on the Arabian sea.

India has cited its opposition to the CPEC, which passes through a part of Kashmir held by Pakistan.

Along the way, China is funding and building several mega infrastructure projects, including road and railway networks, and power plants. According to estimates, over 30,000 Pakistanis are working on the corridor project.

"Nobody can reverse it, it will succeed at any cost," Iqbal was quoted as saying by the News International daily.

He said: "Beijing stood by Islamabad whenever it faced difficulties and gave the world a message with the investment of $46 billion when nobody was prepared to give even $10."

When asked about progress in the investigation into attack on Sindh Assembly opposition leader Khawaja Izhar, the minister said: "Some people are still at large... We will soon give the good news about arrest of the whole gang."

Iqbal said that terrorists were trying to lure the country's youth through the use of social media.

He said that a policy has been constituted with the help of Higher Education Commission to stem extremism in educational institutes.

--IANS

soni/vm