China on Monday refuted criticism that the USD 60 billion CPEC has intensified Pakistan's economic risks, saying that less than 20 per cent of the current projects under the initiative are using Chinese loans.
India boycotted the first Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in 2017 after protesting to Beijing over the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) overriding New Delhi's sovereignty concerns.
China's Belt and Road aims to connect Europe, Asia, and Africa through a wide network of roads, highways, sea lanes and ports. Its jewel project, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), cuts through Jammu and Kashmir.
It has requested China to formally delete the project from the CPEC list.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said this at the weekly media briefing here on Thursday when asked about a US media report that alleged that China has hatched a secret plan to build fighter jets and other military hardware in Pakistan as part of the USD 60 billion project.
The Islamabad datelined report in the New York Times said Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches to the secret proposal.
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With CPEC and other projects China slowly dominating over debt ridden Pak
Cash-strapped Pakistan has formally approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package as it reeled under serious economic crisis.
After the recent visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia, it was announced that Riyadh will be the third "strategic partner" of USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The CPEC is the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi Jinping aimed at enhancing China’s influence around the world.
India has opposed the CPEC project and protested to China as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
A media report on Monday suggested that Prime Minister Imran Khan's newly elected government plans to renegotiate the agreements with China.
China has already invited Afghanistan -- west to Pakistan -- to join the CPEC. Iran, which is located further west, has expressed interest in joining the project.
According to the report, not only the CPEC projects but local industries related to construction and a large workforce of engineers and labourers were also hit by the situation.
According to a Financial Times' report, Pakistan told China to give it more loans to keep the CPEC alive, the mainstay project of Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road connectivity initiative. It also said Pakistan borrowed some $4 billion from China in the year ending June 2018.
Talking about ways to restore peace in Kashmir at Rajat Sharma's show Aap ki Adalat, the former chief minister said that more trade routes should be opened between India and Pakistan to encourage trade.
"We have a problem there. We have a problem with CPEC, our problems are well known because it completely encroaches on our sovereignty and territorial integrity. And that is not acceptable," said a senior government official.
Sitharaman brought up the issue of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and made it clear that India will not "entertain any thought" of reviewing its stand on it, as it concerned its sovereignty.
His statement comes days after it was reported that Saudi Arabia and Russia were looking at extending a short-term pact to curb oil supplies with a view to check prices.
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