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Imran Khan arrives in China for talks on CPEC, IMF bailout

Agencies
November 2, 2018

Beijing, Nov 2:  Imran Khan arrived in Beijing on Friday in what is termed as the most significant visit to China by a Pakistani Prime Minister in recent years as the all-weather allies grapple to iron out differences over the multi-billion CPEC and Islamabad approaching 'friendly nations' to avoid a tough IMF bailout package.

Khan arrived in the early hours for his four-day visit, official sources said.

He is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on shoring up the all-weather ties. Both the countries are expected to sign several agreements.

He will also attend China's International Import Expo on November 5 in Shanghai during the visit, billed as the most significant one by a Pakistani Prime Minister to China in recent years.

Reports in the Pakistan media said Khan was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Advisor on Commerce and Trade Abdul Razzak Dawood, Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed among others.

Khan's visit evoked considerable interest here as it comes in the wake of his past criticism of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and remarks by his ministers to cut down some of the projects over debt concern.

The cricketer-turned-politician, during his first visit to China, is also expected to seek more Chinese loans to avoid approaching International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.

He secured USD three billion funding from his recent visit to Saudi Arabia besides differed payment for oil imports worth about USD three billion for a year.

Pakistan has already approached the IMF but is concerned about the stringent conditions the international lender may impose specially to scrutinise the CPEC projects.

For its part, China is also concerned about critical remarks made by Ministers from Khan's Cabinet.

While Dawood told the Financial Times that some of the agreements were unfair to Pakistani companies and should be put on hold for a year, Rashid said that Pakistan wants to cut the size of the USD eight billion Karachi-Peshawar rail line, the biggest project of the CPEC, by USD two billion.

The statements evoked serious concerns in China as the CPEC is the flagship project of Xi's pet project multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The CPEC has also become a major irritant in India-China relations with New Delhi voicing its opposition to the infrastructure project as it traverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Khan, however, assured his support to the CPEC when Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Islamabad in September.

China also agreed to address his concerns that the CPEC projects were mainly benefitting the dominant Punjab region and the new projects will focus on the western region of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

From Beijing's point of view, Pakistan's criticism of the project was a shocker, specially after China's takeover of Sri Lanka's Hambantota port on a 99-year lease as debt swap.

China is concerned over cash-strapped Pakistan's plans to approach the IMF for a bailout package amid assertions by the global lender officials to scrutinise the CPEC loans.

Beijing is also uncomfortable over Pakistan roping in Saudi Arabia to invest in Balochistan bordering Iran.

The province is key to the CPEC as it terminates at the strategic Gwadar port. The CPEC connects China's Xinjiang province with Gwadar through a rail, road and pipeline network.

China do not want the CPEC projects to get caught in the Saudi-Iran rivalry. For its part, China has been giving a top billing for Khan's visit and vehemently deny the debt concerns.

Khan's visit to China will provide an "opportunity" for the two countries to open a "new chapter" of bilateral relations "under the new circumstances," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday.

Lu also refuted criticism that the CPEC is causing financial and debt problems for Pakistan, saying Islamabad has already made it clear that debts incurred by the CPEC only account for a very small portion of Pakistan's total debts and is not a reason why the country is experiencing financial difficulties.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Jun 24: The coronavirus tally in Pakistan reached 188,926 with the detection of 3,892 new cases in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Sixty more people died due to the viral infection, taking the death toll to 3,755.

As many as 3,337 patients are in critical condition across the country, the ministry said.

With the detection of 3,892 new cases in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus tally in the country now stands at 188,926, it said.

Sindh reported the maximum number of 72,656 cases, followed by 69,536 in Punjab, 23,388 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 11,483 in Islamabad, 9,634 in Balochistan, 1,337 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 892 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok).

Health authorities have so far conducted 1,150,141 coronavirus tests, including 23,380 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 77,754 patients have recovered so far from the disease.

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News Network
January 29,2020

New Delhi, Jan 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the plea by Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi said that expeditious disposal of mercy plea by the President doesn't mean non-application of mind by him.

The court also said that alleged sufferings in prison can't be grounds to challenge the rejection of mercy petition.

The bench said all relevant material including judgments pronounced by trial court, high court and Supreme Court were placed before the President when he was considering the mercy plea of the convict.

The bench also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna rejected the contentions of the counsel appearing for Singh that entire materials of the case were not placed before the President when he was considering his mercy plea.

The bench, while referring to two files placed before it by the Centre on Tuesday, said that as per the January 15 covering letter which was sent by the Delhi government to the Ministry of Home Affairs, all relevant documents were sent.

The bench noted that detailed judgements of trial court, high court and the Supreme Court, curative petition filed by Singh, his past criminal history and his family background were sent to the Home Ministry by the Delhi government.

"All the documents were taken into consideration by the President while rejecting the mercy petition," the bench said.

The bench also dealt with submissions advanced by the convict's counsel, who had argued that the mercy plea was rejected at "lightning speed".

The bench said that if a mercy petition is expeditiously dealt with, it cannot be assumed that it has been adjudicated upon in a pre-conceived mind.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Six months since the new coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic is still far from over, the World Health Organization said Monday, warning that "the worst is yet to come".

Reaching the half-year milestone just as the death toll surpassed 500,000 and the number of confirmed infections topped 10 million, the WHO said it was a moment to recommit to the fight to save lives.

"Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world -- and our lives -- would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.

"We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over.

"Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.

"We're all in this together, and we're all in this for the long haul.

"We will need even greater stores of resilience, patience, humility and generosity in the months ahead.

"We have already lost so much -- but we cannot lose hope."

Tedros also said that the pandemic had brought out the best and worst humanity, citing acts of kindness and solidarity, but also misinformation and the politicisation of the virus.

In an atmosphere of global political division and fractures on a national level, "the worst is yet to come. I'm sorry to say that," he said.

"With this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst."

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