Sharif launches Chinese-funded highway project

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today launched a major China-funded road project worth nearly USD 3 billion in Pakistan to link the two neighboring countries as part of the ambitious bilateral economic corridor deal.
The 393-kilometre Sukkur-Multan section is part of Karachi-Lahore Motorway project and will cost 294 billion (USD 2.8 billion). It is the part of the 46-billion dollars China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The six-lane road will have 54 bridges, including one major bridge over the Sutlej river, whereas construction of 12 service areas, 10 rest areas, 11 interchanges, 10 flyovers and 426 underpasses are also included in the project.

Sharif said it was his long-standing dream to connect all the provinces of Pakistan with a network of highways and motorways and this seems to be transforming into reality.
"This project will not only connect Sukkur with Multan but this will connect Pakistan with China and the countries of central Asia," he said.
Sharif also lambasted his political opponents who are demanding a probe against after names of his children surfaced in the Panama Papers leak.

"Our agenda is progress, prosperity and development of the country and we will not back out of our agenda no matter how many hurdles are put in our way," he said.

The motorway project would be completed with the financial assistance from China but the Communist giant's contribution was not known. Chinese officials were present on the occasion.
Last year, China and Pakistan signed the landmark CPEC agreement for an economic corridor project to stabilise Pakistan's cash-strapped economy and expand the Communist giant's influence in India's neighbourhood.
The agreement will link China's underdeveloped far-western region to Pakistan's Gwadar deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea via PoK through a massive and complex network of roads, railways, business zones, energy schemes and pipelines.