BEIJING : China “firmly” supports Pakistan’s fight against militancy, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday, a day after militants attacked the country’s southwestern Gwadar port where Beijing has invested heavily.
Two soldiers and eight militants were killed on Wednesday afternoon when eight militants stormed the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Complex in southwestern Balochistan province, the army’s media wing said.
The deep-sea port is key to the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a road and energy infrastructure project that aims to improve connectivity between the two countries. It is located in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land but also its poorest by most economic indicators.
“China is against all forms of terrorism and firmly supports national development and social stability in Pakistan,” Jian told reporters at a press briefing, condemning the loss of lives of Pakistani personnel in the attack.
“We firmly support Pakistan’s efforts to fight terrorism and defend national security and stability.”
Balochistan has been the scene of a low-lying insurgency for decades. China has helped develop Gwadar and invested millions in Pakistan’s southwestern province despite security concerns and setbacks.
Chinese targets have also come under attack by other Baloch militant groups in Pakistan, who have been fighting for decades for a larger share in the regional wealth of mines and minerals that they say is being denied by central government in Islamabad.
Belt and Road projects in Pakistan have been plagued by security concerns. In 2021, a bus carrying engineers to a construction site near a dam in northwestern Pakistan was hit by a bomb, killing 13 people including nine Chinese workers.
Courtesy: arabnews
