Pakistan has officially asked China to shelve a joint US$2 billion coal power project from the US$62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, claiming it will be too expensive and should not be an immediate priority. The request was made when Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar, Pakistan’s minister for planning and development, travelled to Beijing in December for a CPEC coordination meeting, according to a government official not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
“The government is evaluating some of the Chinese projects, which are more expensive and not necessary at the moment to save public money,” the official said. “We have to focus on our priorities, including the development of Gwadar port and the western route of CPEC, which connects the hinterlands of Baluchistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.”
