China in Talks with Baloch Insurgents to Secure CPEC: Report

New Delhi: China has been in talks with Balochistan militants to secure the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

People in the know how of the developments told Financial Times that the Asian giant has been quietly talking to Baloch insurgents for the last five years and that the contact has been direct.

The report quoted a Pakistani official as saying that the Chinese have made progress to the extent that Baloch militants were not “pushing with force.”

The article claimed that Pakistan welcomes the move on the part of the Chinese and that Chinese involvement in Pakistan politics had many countries worried, including India. The CPEC passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir, which is a bone of contention for India.

While there has been no official response from the Chinese on the report, the ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing had claimed in a recent interview that Baloch insurgents were no longer a threat to the CPEC and that those opposing it were “not true Pakistanis.” The CPEC is a network of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan that will connect China's Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan's Balochistan province.