Chinese Talking to Pakistani Militants with Success, Financial Times Reports

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Chinese Talking to Pakistani Militants with Success, Financial Times Reports

Feb. 19, 2018 (EIRNS)—According to a report by London’s Financial Times, Chinese officials engaged in implementing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have been talking to Baloch tribal separatists for almost five years. CPEC’s western arm runs through the terrorism-infested Balochistan province of Pakistan to reach the Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea. The Financial Times reported that three people with knowledge of the talks said,

“Beijing had been in direct contact with militants in the southwestern state of Balochistan, where many of the [CPEC] scheme’s most important projects are located.”

The City of London daily also said that such talks have met with success.

The FT report cited one

Baloch tribal leader who said that through these talks a number of “young men had been persuaded to lay down their weapons by the promise of financial benefits. ‘Today, young men are not getting attracted to join the insurgents as they did some 10 years ago,’ he said. ‘Many people see prosperity’ as a result of the China-Pakistan corridor, he said.”

A Pakistani official told Financial Times:

“The Chinese have quietly made a lot of progress. Even though separatists occasionally try to carry out the odd attack, they are not making a forceful push.”