Pakistan's $8.2 Billion Rail Upgrade to Link with China, Russia, Central Asia & Europe

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan government has approved an $ 8.2 billion project to upgrade the 1,872 km Karachi - Peshawar rail track, bridges, tunnels, and culverts, according to International Railway Journal.

The new track will support increased axle load of up to 25 tons, up from 22.8 tons which is now the norm in South Asian countries. The higher axle load capacity will allow heavier freight trains carrying more freight per train for greater trade overland.

China will provide 85% of the financing for the project. It will be done in two phases, with the first due for completion in December 2017 and the second in 2021.

It will be part of an international rail link that will connect Pakistan with China,  Russia, Central Asia and Europe. It will extend south from the city of Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Western China to Pakistan's deep-sea Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, according to Zhang Chunlin, director of Xinjiang's regional development and reform commission.

Source: China Daily

A study for the plans for this international rail link was first presented in 2014 at a two-day International Seminar on the Silk Road Economic Belt in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, according to China Daily.

"The 1,800-kilometer China-Pakistan railway is planned to also pass through Pakistan's capital of Islamabad and Karachi," Zhang Chunlin said. "Although the cost of constructing the railway is expected to be high due to the hostile environment and complicated geographic conditions, the study of the (international rail link) project has already started," Zhang said. "China and Pakistan will co-fund the railway construction. Building oil and gas pipelines between Gwadar Port and China is also on the agenda," Zhang added.

The Pak-China link announcement was part of the discussion on China's broader effort to revive the historic Silk Route by building three main corridors through southern, central and northern Xinjiang to connect China with Russia, Europe and Pakistan. The Silk Road Economic Belt International seminar which concluded on Friday in Urumqi, Xinjinag was jointly sponsored by the State Council Information Office, China International Publishing Group (CIPG), China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.

In a 2013 report, China's State-owned Xinhua News Agency articulated China's motivation to expand land trade in addition to building its navy to protect its sea trade. Here's what it said:

“As a global economic power, China has a tremendous number of economic sea lanes to protect. China is justified to develop its military capabilities to safeguard its sovereignty and protect its vast interests around the world."

The Xinhua report has for the first time shed light on China's growing concerns with US pivot to Asia which could threaten China's international trade and its economic lifeline of energy and other natural resources it needs to sustain and grow its economy. This concern has been further reinforced by the following:

1. Frequent US statements to "check" China's rise.  For example, former US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a 2011 address to the Naval Postgraduate School in California: "We try everything we can to cooperate with these rising powers and to work with them, but to make sure at the same time that they do not threaten stability in the world, to be able to project our power, to be able to say to the world that we continue to be a force to be reckoned with." He added that "we continue to confront rising powers in the world - China, India, Brazil, Russia, countries that we need to cooperate with. We need to hopefully work with. But in the end, we also need to make sure do not threaten the stability of the world."

Source: The Guardian

2. Chinese strategists see a long chain of islands from Japan in the north, all the way down to Australia, all United States allies, all potential controlling chokepoints that could  block Chinese sea lanes and cripple its economy, business and industry.

Karakoram Highway-World's Highest Paved International Road at 15000 ft.

Chinese Premier's emphasis on "connectivity and maritime sectors" and "China-Pakistan economic corridor project" is mainly driven by their paranoia about the US intentions to "check China's rise" It is intended to establish greater maritime presence at Gwadar, located close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and  to build land routes (motorways, rail links, pipelines)  from the Persian Gulf through Pakistan to Western China. This is China's insurance to continue trade with West Asia and the Middle East in case of hostilities with the United States and its allies in Asia.

Pakistan's Gawadar Port- located 400 Km from the Strait of Hormuz

As to the benefits for Pakistanis, expanded trade and the Chinese investment in "connectivity and maritime sectors" and "China-Pakistan economic corridor project" will help build infrastructure, stimulate Pakistan's economy and create millions of badly needed jobs.

Clearly, China-Pakistan ties have now become much more strategic than the US-Pakistan ties, particularly since 2011 because, as American Journalist Mark Mazzetti of New York Times put it, the  Obama administration's heavy handed policies "turned Pakistan against the United States". A similar view is offered by a former State Department official Vali Nasr in his book "The Dispensable Nation".

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[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan shares end higher ahead of #MSCI announcement to upgrade country to #EmergingMarkets status http://reut.rs/1VUulOH via @Reuters

Pakistani stocks closed higher on Monday in a volatile trading session ahead of a much-anticipated MSCI announcement on whether the bourse would be reclassified as an emerging market, analysts said.

The benchmark 100-share index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange finished 0.11 percent higher at 36,979.96.

The index clocked in an intraday range of more than 440 points, hitting a low of 36,637.81 in early trading before bouncing back towards the end of the session.

"Market sentiment remained sombre today, in line with sentiment seen in global equities and commodities ahead of central bank meetings in the U.S., U.K. and Japan this week," said Gohar Rasool, head of international sales at Inter Market Securities Pvt Ltd.

MSCI is due to announce whether it will be reclassifying Pakistan as an emerging market on Tuesday.

The stock exchange was dropped from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in 2008, but Pakistan has in recent months launched a final push to get back in so it can vastly expand its pool of potential investors.

Among index heavyweights that gained on the day were Engro Fertilizers Ltd, MCB Bank Ltd and Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd.

Oil stocks took a hit as international crude oil prices declined. Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd closed down 0.93 percent while Pakistan Oilfields Ltd was down 0.75 percent.

Traded volume on the day stood at 104.7 million shares, with traded value at 6.67 billion rupees ($63.83 million).

[Riaz Haq]

#Asia's new Great Game. #Modi #Afghanistan #India, #Pakistan #Iran #China #US #Chabahar #CPEC #CentralAsia


http://www.dawn.com/news/1264242

By Munir Akram


With a population of only around 50 million, Central Asia will not become a huge market for manufactured goods. It will be twice as expensive for India to send goods to Central Asia through Chabahar than it would be overland across Pakistan. Indian goods are thus unlikely to be competitive against Chinese products shipped overland.

Also read: Lessons from Chabahar

The strategic advantages for India are also questionable. Its influence in Afghanistan will be more dependent on Iran. Pakistan’s cooperation will continue to be essential to restoring peace in Afghanistan. Indian shipping lanes to Chabahar will be vulnerable to disruption. India’s limited influence in Central Asia will not dent that of Russia and China.

The new Great Game will increasingly revolve around China’s One Belt, One Road vision of land and sea connections between Asia, Europe and beyond. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the first component of this ambitious project.

In comparison to the Chabahar route, the strategic and economic implications of CPEC are enormous. It will transform China from a one- to a two-ocean power; enable a part of its $4000 billion annual trade to circumvent the Malacca straits and other potential choke points in the Indian Ocean and shorten China’s supply lines to the Gulf, West Asia and Africa. For these reasons, if no other, China has a vital stake in Pakistan’s strategic stability and socioeconomic development. The Chinese commitment of $46bn for CPEC projects is but the first instalment of the massive capital which China is prepared to deploy in Pakistan.

Instead of being distracted by the moves of its adversaries, Pakistan must remain focused on the implementation of CPEC. This strategic enterprise should not be allowed to be stalled or delayed by external pressure or internal politics, inefficiency or corruption. It would be wise to create a separate and independent CPEC Authority which can be a ‘one-stop-shop’ entrusted with achieving CPEC’s enormous potential for Pakistan’s development. CPEC projects must go beyond infrastructure development to encompass manufacture, consumer goods, housing, health, textiles, finance and other sectors. To this end, the interaction between Pakistani and Chinese private- and public-sector companies must be actively expanded and intensified. Some of the externally imposed limitations on CPEC investment projects, such as restrictions on ‘sovereign guarantees’ for debt finance, need to be removed expeditiously.

CPEC faces threats from Pakistan and China’s adversaries. These will have to be met forcefully.

India’s opposition has been announced openly. New Delhi will continue to utilise Afghanistan as a base to destabilise Pakistan and undermine CPEC. The recent spate of attacks on Chinese workers in Pakistan is no accident. Pakistan will have to further enhance security for them and consider direct action to remove the Afghan-based threat from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Iran has assured that Chabahar is not designed to compete with Gwadar or CPEC. Pakistan and Iran can cooperate for mutual benefit: to end terrorism in Balochistan, expand trade, and construct the Iranian gas pipeline and a Gwadar-Chabahar economic corridor. However, Tehran often wants to run with the hare and hunt with the hound. Some recent events have sent disturbing signals which Pakistan cannot ignore.

To balance the growing Indo-Iranian relationship, Pakistan must maintain and reinforce its relationship with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. It would be in Pakistan’s interest to help in giving substance and form to the ‘Islamic coalition’ hastily formed by Riyadh. It should also convince the GCC states of the benefits of CPEC as a path to their closer connection with China.

America is and will remain a major player in the new Asian Great Game. ...

[Riaz Haq]

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE > BUSINESS
Pakistan, China ink agreements worth $4.2b

As per the contracts, China would provide a concessionary loan of $1.3 billion for the 120-kilometre long Thakot-Havelian section of Karakoram Highyway-II (KKH-II) and $2.9 billion for the 392-kilometre Multan-Sukkur section of the Lahore-Karachi motorway.

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Since China is providing concessionary loans for both projects, the contracts have been awarded on a government-to-government basis, waiving the condition of international competitive bidding.

Out of the $46 billion CPEC investment package, roughly $11.5 billion is reserved for the road and railways infrastructure. China has promised to give concessionary loans for four infrastructure projects. Two of these projects will get interest-free loans.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1096762/cpec-eastern-alignment-pakistan...

From Business Recorder:

China would extend assistance to Pakistan at 1.6 percent interest rate for infrastructure projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it is learnt. Member, Infrastructure and Regional Connectivity of Planning Commission Malik Ahmad Khan confirmed that China would extend assistance to Pakistan at 1.6 percent interest for infrastructure projects under CPEC. "We wanted China to reduce this rate from 1.6 percent to 1 percent. And the Finance Division is making efforts in this regard," he added.

Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Projects (CPEC), China has promised to invest around $11.8 billion in infrastructure projects and $33.8 billion in various energy projects which will be completed by 2017 at the latest. According to sources, the corridor is a 2,700-kilometre highway that would stretch from Kashghar to Gwadar through Khunjrab. The CPEC will integrate the economies of the two friendly countries; it envisages several economic zones.

http://www.brecorder.com/market-data/stocks-a-bonds/0/1223449/

[Riaz Haq]

#China to lend $5.5 B and ADB another $2.5 billion for #Pakistan's $8 B #Rail link project. #CPEC http://ecoti.in/z8wb4Z via @economictimes

About 75 per cent of the country's (rail) cargo and passenger traffic passes through the 1,687 km-long Peshawar-Karachi rail line. 

Earlier, China had agreed to provide $3.7 billion out of the $46-billion CPEC program for the ML-I project and "now it has decided to increase its contribution to $5.5 billion," Iqbal said. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide $2.5 billion t .. 


The Peshawar-Lahore section of the ML-I will be built with the ADB loan. 

The rail project would be completed in five to six years after which the rail speed would double to 180 kilometres per hour.

[Riaz Haq]

Regional cooperation forum: #CAREC offers avenues for deeper economic links among Stans #CentralAsia #Pakistan #CPEC

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1215393/regional-cooperation-forum-care...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recently hosted the 15th meeting of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec), a body working for the collective benefit of the region by promoting economic cooperation.

Pakistan is increasingly looking at Central Asian states in an effort to forge trade links and give a fillip to its dwindling exports. However, so far, it has not been able to tap the full trade potential because of lack of infrastructure for connecting the South and Central Asia regions.

Carec is also pushing ahead with plans to encourage regional connectivity to enhance the trade volume.

In the Carec meeting, more than 200 participants from 10 member states and multilateral development partners participated. The member countries included Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan while Georgia took part as an observer.

Carec is an important forum that encourages regional countries to develop physical networks and infrastructure and ensure peace, stability and economic development.

Strategies and initiatives were highlighted at the huddle to stimulate much-needed investment in energy sector of the member states. After a briefing on selected case studies undertaken by Carec members including Pakistan, prominent investors shared their insights to identify and make investments in energy projects.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appreciated that Carec had mobilised $29 billion for pouring into regional development projects and voiced hope that a mid-term review of the regional body in the next 10 years would prove to be an opportunity to fast-track economic cooperation.

The regional connectivity may lead to economic development and prosperity of the region. In this connection, Pakistan is working on energy projects such as the Central Asia-South Asia 1,000-megawatt (Casa-1,000) power import project and the Tapi gas pipeline that will start from Turkmenistan.

The Casa-1,000 is also going to pave the way for digital connectivity between the two regions through a fibre optic cable network called Digital Casa-I, which will link Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The existing cable reaches Pakistan after going through a long route. It first goes to Russia, extends to Europe and then comes to Pakistan.

The new project will provide a good route to connect the two regions. It will allow regional countries to become independent while tapping the international internet channels.

CPEC support

In his welcome address at the Carec ministerial meeting on the theme “Linking connectivity with economic transformation”, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme, which Pakistan had undertaken, would complement regional connectivity initiatives of Carec members.

He stressed that the CPEC offered a massive opportunity for connectivity between Central Asia, Middle East and Africa and was bound to play a defining role in economic development of the two regions.

Dar said improving the transport corridor was not an end in itself but it was an investment in establishing sound infrastructure and complementary frameworks for shared prosperity of the present and future generations in the region.


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The markets of Central Asian states and Russia are open and this is the area where Pakistan needs to increasingly focus on.

With an air of distrust between Islamabad and Washington over the latter’s inclination towards Delhi, China and Russia could not only support Pakistan’s economy, but they will also block India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan in the international arena. To achieve all that, Pakistan needs to forge deeper links with the Central Asia region and Carec can play a decisive role in that connection.

[Riaz Haq]

CPEC to strengthen CAREC by expanding north-south corridor: 


The primary north-south transport corridor in Pakistan runs from Torkham on the northern border with Afghanistan and passes through primary production and population centres such as Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, and Khanewal, before reaching the port city of Karachi in the south. The corridor serves the economy of an area that accounts for 80 percent to 85 percent of the country’s GDP and in the regional context, forms an integral part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) corridors 5 and 6 after Pakistan's accession to the CAREC Programme in 2010.

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The M-4 Motorway, linking Faisalabad with Khanewal, would be completed by July 2018, said National Highway Authority (NHA) member Mansoor Ahmed Sirohey on Friday.

He told journalists that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the leading financer in M-4 Motorway, as the bank disbursed $170 million (77 percent share of the project) in 2009 for construction of a 58km four-lane motorway M-4, connecting Faisalabad to Gojra (section I). This section was completed in December 2014.

Similarly, the ADB would provide 56.15 percent share of the funding of the section II of the M-4, which will construct the 62km four-lane access controlled motorway connecting Gojra and Shorkot. Meanwhile, government of the United Kingdom would provide grant of 29.02 percent and Pakistan would release share of 14.83 percent. The project is expected to complete by 2018, he added.

Sirohey said that contract for section-III of the motorway linking Shorkot to Khanewal has been signed and construction is expected to commence in December 2016. The ADB noted that M-4 Motorway in Punjab, linking Faisalabad with Khanewal, will cut travel time and support the government's broader goal of improved investment and trade flows along the country's vital north-south corridor route. Once fully completed, the M-4 Motorway will provide a faster, safer, more cost-effective north-south route to the currently overburdened national highway 5 and other existing narrow and congested routes.

http://nation.com.pk/business/19-Nov-2016/project-to-be-completed-i...

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan #Railway track upgrade to include overpasses, underpasses & grade separation for high-speed trains #CPEC https://www.geo.tv/latest/124093-Railway-tracks-to-be-made-gate-fre... …

LAHORE: Railway tracks from Karachi to Peshawar will be made gate-free and signal-free under the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Geo News reported, citing sources.

A fence would be built around the tracks, similar to Motorway, and an underpass or overheard bridge would be built at every gate on the tracks, the sources said.

Work on the project would be initiated from January. The first phase of the project would focus on railway tracks between Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

The signaling system in Pakistan Railways will also be upgraded under the project.

According to the sources, the purpose behind making railway tracks gate-free and signal-free is to make train journeys safer and faster for the public. The fencing and bridges would also lead to a reduction in accidents.

Once the project is completed, the tracks would be able to accommodate high-speed trains. The railways authorities have completed the planning for the project, the sources added.

[Riaz Haq]

#GE Transportation in #Eerie #Pennsylvania to build 20 #locomotives for #Pakistan, creating new jobs for #Americans 

http://www.goerie.com/news/20170609/ge-transportation-to-build-20-l...

GE Transportation workers in Erie will have more work to do, thanks to a new order for 20 locomotives from Pakistan Railways.

Top NewsClick Now and Read Later.


This latest order, announced this week, represents an expansion of a 2015 order for 55 Evolution series locomotives, 32 of which are already in service.


At about 2,000 horsepower, the locomotives being built for Pakistan are lighter and less powerful than the 4,600 horsepower locomotives the company builds for North American customers.

“These lighter-weight locomotives,” according to a statement from GE Transportation, “are designed to better maneuver difficult access roads.”

For Pakistan, the purchase is part of a strategic move to increase the percentage of freight moved by rail from 4 percent to 20 percent in the next 10 years.

For the Erie plant, which has been building about two locomotives per week, the order represents a small but important boost that could represent a certain amount of security at a plant where about 1,500 jobs were cut in the first half of 2016.

“Any work is good news,” said Scott Slawson, president of Local 506 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers at GE Transportation. “We are in a downturn that we are hoping to turn around.”

There have been some positive signs lately.

Slawson said a handful of people on the layoff list have been called back to work recently. While some of those employees will be taking the jobs of workers who have retired, Slawson said a number of others will provide labor in areas of specific need within the company.


Workers in Erie recently wrapped up work on the first two locomotives in an order of 1,000 locomotives for Indian Railways. The first 40 locomotives will be built in Erie, followed by 60 so-called kits that will be built in Erie and then shipped to India for final assembly. The remaining 900 locomotives will be built in India over the next 10 years.

Slawson said the employment situation at the Erie plant, which builds locomotives for the international market, might be substantially different if the Indian Railways order, the largest in the company’s history, was to be built exclusively in Erie.

“That would have been huge,” he said.

[Riaz Haq]

Rail network to connect #Gwadar with #China, #Afghanistan under #CPEC. 1,328 km new line from #Jacobabad and #Quetta via Basima to Gwadar at a cost of $4.5 billion and new 560km rail track from Quetta to Kotla Jam on ML-2 via Zhob and DI Khan https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/08/18/pakistans-railway-ne... via @Profitpk

ISLAMABAD: The ambitious plan of connecting Pakistan’s railway network from China and Afghanistan to Gwadar deep sea port under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been declared strategically important by both Pakistan and China.

The plan will help commercially viable transportation of goods from China and Central Asian States to the port city, besides boosting trade and tourism activities in the country.

The already agreed CPEC project for up-gradation of existing Main Line 1 (ML-1) railway track from Peshawar to Karachi will be materialised in the first phase, followed by new railway lines that would be laid across the country to boost trade activities under CPEC.

According to the plan, a new 1,059 kilometer railway line from Havelian in Pakistan’s province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to Kashghar in Chinese province of Xinjiang would be laid to connect both the countries through railways.

Another 1,328 kilometer long new railway line from Jacobabad and Quetta via Basima to Gwadar has also been planned to be constructed at a cost of $4.5 billion to connect the port city with the rest of the country and China. Similarly, Pakistan Railways also plans to lay a new 560km railway track from Quetta to Kotla Jam on ML-2 via Zhob and DI Khan.

A new railway line from Peshawar to Torkham in Afghanistan is also part of the plan, however, in a fresh development, a source in the ministry of planning and development said that the railway network would be extended deep in the country to Kabul, and then to Mazar-e-Sharif, so that the Central Asian states could be connected via railway line with Gwadar.

All these new railway projects have been put in the long-term plan of CPEC which is supposed to be completed by 2030. “In order to effectively eventuate ML-1 project, it has been decided to break the project into three packages,” an official in the railways ministry said.

The ministry of railways has already submitted the PC-1 of Package-1 to the Planning Commission.

“Keeping in view the importance of the project, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the authorities concerned to start work on the project as early as possible. Therefore, the PC-1 of first package of the project is expected to be considered by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) later this month which would refer to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final approval,” an official in planning ministry said.

He further said that once approved by the ECNEC, this project would be presented before the 9th annual meeting of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on CPEC between Pakistan and China to be held in October this year for finalising financing modalities.

The scope of work includes up gradation and doubling of ML-1 from Karachi to Peshawar and Taxila to Havelian (1,872km) including provision of modern signaling and telecommunication systems, conversion of level crossings into underpasses/flyovers and fencing of the track.

CPEC project leader in Ministry of Railways Basharat Waheed said that on completion of ML-1, Pakistan Railways will reap the advantages of increase in speed from 65-105 km/hour to 120-160 km/h, increase in line capacity from 34 to 171 trains each way per day, increase in freight volumes from 6 to 35 million tons per annum by 2025, increase in passenger trains (ex-Karachi) from 20 to 40 each way per day and increase in railway share of freight transport volume from less than 4% to 20%.

Journey time from Karachi to Lahore will be reduced from existing 18 hours to only 10 hours while that from Islamabad to Lahore will be reduced from four-and-a-half hours to two-and-a-half hours, he added.

[Riaz Haq]

#CPEC Re-Emerges In #Pakistan With Flurry Of Major #China Deals: 2 #hydropower projects costing $3.9 billion, and another to revamp Pakistan's colonial-era railways for $7.2 billion -- the most expensive #Chinese project yet in Pakistan. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belt-and-road-re-emerges-in-pakista... via @ndtv

China's Belt and Road program has found new life in Pakistan with $11 billion worth of projects signed in the last month, driven by a former lieutenant general who has reinvigorated the infrastructure plan that's been languishing since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office two years ago.
The nations signed deals on June 25 and July 6 for two hydro-power generation projects costing $3.9 billion in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region, and another to revamp the South Asian nation's colonial-era railways for $7.2 billion -- the most expensive Chinese project yet in Pakistan.

Khan's government appointed Asim Saleem Bajwa last year to run the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority, which oversees more than $70 billion in projects from power plants to highways.

He also joined Khan's cabinet in late April, becoming one of more than a dozen former and current military officials in prominent government roles as the army expands its influence in the country.

The Chinese financing has helped rid Pakistan of an electricity deficit that left exporters unable to meet orders and major cities without electricity for much of the day. Still, the implementation of some investments appeared to stall since Khan came to power, with no new projects announced in 2018 and very few in 2019.

Since Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the initiative in 2013, the World Bank estimates about $575 billion worth of energy plants, railways, roads, ports and other projects have been built or are in the works across the globe. Its progress has slowed recently, dogged by accusations that China is luring poor countries into debt traps for its own political and strategic gain.

"The reality is that much of CPEC, like the Belt and Road more broadly, has been paralyzed," said Jonathan Hillman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Pakistan "is a flagship for China's Belt and Road, so the need to show progress is even more important."

In a tweet last month, Bajwa said some detractors had given the "false impression" that CPEC had been slowed. Not only has the pace of work on projects picked up recently, but a great deal of ground work has been done to launch phase two of the project that also includes special economic zones to lure Chinese manufacturers, agriculture, science, technology and tourism, he wrote.

"The prime minister pushed very hard on this," said Abdul Razak Dawood, Khan's adviser on commerce and investments said by phone. "We feel that we have to get more and more hydro in our energy mix."

A spokesman in Bajwa's office said he was not immediately available to comment.

Little Progress

Pakistan's army is already responsible for securing every single Beijing-funded project scattered across the country, from the mountains near the Chinese border to the desert in Gwadar where the Chinese operate a port. Its role has become even more important following terrorist attacks on three Chinese-related projects in the past year.

"There is no doubt that PM Khan's arrival slowed the pace of CPEC projects," said Mosharraf Zaidi, a senior fellow at Islamabad-based think tank, Tabadlab, and a former principal advisor to the foreign ministry. "The renewed energy and approval we are now seeing is almost entirely likely due to the chairperson having settled in, and being added to Prime Minister Khan's cabinet."