Pak-China rail link on the cards

by admin
November 26th, 2006

Frustrated with India stonewalling its proposal to open a highway from Tibet into India and use Kolkata as a landing port for China-bound consignments, Beijing appears to have turned to its ally Pakistan to resolve logistics.
China is talking with Pakistan to build a rail route and an energy pipeline linking the two countries and eventually turning the Chinese-built Gwadar port in Pakistan into a landing point for international cargo headed to western China through Balochistan, sources said.
Beijing, which built the 809 km Karakoram highway connecting the two countries in 1978, has also accepted a Pakistani request to rebuild and broaden the highway to carry more load. The state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation has already drawn up a blueprint to make the 335 km stretch between Raikot bridge to the Khunjerab mountain pass, a 30-metrewide road from from its present width of ten metres, informed sources said. The purpose is to link both Qasim and Gwadar with Kashi in Xinjiang province of China. The rail and highway plans have both commercial and strategic objectives as the Karakoram highway passes through disputed areas, sources said.

Manmohan to visit Pak?
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to visit Pakistan early next year during which time the Siachen and Sir Creek issues are expected to be settled, a report in the Pakistani daily ‘Dawn’ said on Saturday. “The dates for Singh’s visit have already been decided. It will take place by February-end or most likely in March,’’ it said. Gwadar link will help China save millions
Beijing: According to Fu Xiaoqiang, a researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, the Qwadar (Gwadar) port and Karakoram Road, which China had helped Pakistan build, have made it possible to translate plans to build a trade corridor into reality. “If such plans can be turned into reality someday, one can imagine how broad the development perspective for strategic cooperation between the two countries will be,’’ he said.

Hu awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday conferred on Chinese President Hu Jintao the Nishan-e-Pakistan, its highest civil award, for his “visionary leadership and splendid contribution in charting the course of China-Pakistan relations in the 21st century”. Hu was given the award by General Musharraf at a ceremony at the grand Islamabad Convention Centre. Before the ceremony, Hu addressed a select gathering at the same venue, speaking in glowing terms of the 55-year-old friendship between the two countries. He described Pakistan as an “indispensable partner”, and thanked Pakistan for helping “to build bridges” between China and the US back in the 1970s.