(TibetanReview.net, Jul24’22) – A Chinese company has been renovating bunkers and building new ones since May in Pakistan along the Line of Control (LOC) bordering India, reported the tribuneindia.com Jul 24, citing Indian security agencies.
The Chinese construction company had set up its office in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and was controlling work being executed in areas adjoining Muzaffarabad and Athmuqam, Indian security agencies were reported to have informed New Delhi.
While Chinese firms had carried out construction in PoK in the past too, this is the first time such a project has been undertaken right at the LoC. The area fell under Pakistan army 32 division in Kel sector abutting PoK’s Neelum valley. The sites have been camouflaged, something done in the past too, the report said.
The report said that earlier, China had sent its men and machines to Pakistani soil opposite Bikaner in Rajasthan when a forward airbase was upgraded and more than 350 stone bunkers and border outposts were refurbished.
The justification for the rising Chinese presence has centred around the “threats” to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Chinese nationals working on various projects, the report said.
Meanwhile, touring India to raise support for the independence of war-torn Balochistan from Pakistan, Baloch activist Prof Naela Quadri has said at a gathering in New Delhi on Jul 23 that the CPEC is a military project because China wants a military port in Gwadar.
“No country has the right to sell Balochistan’s ports as this is disputed land since 1948. Not only China and Pakistan but even Barrick Gold should refrain from mining in Balochistan till it is independent,” indianarrative.com Jul 24 quoted Quadri as saying.
She was referring to the Canada-based company that had signed an agreement with the Imran Khan government to dig up minerals in Balochistan.
Much of the CPEC projects, including the Gwadar Port, are located in Balochistan where an independence movement simmers, with activists and fighters targeting Chinese projects and project workers.
The 57-year-old, Canada-based Naela is a Baloch politician, activist for women’s rights, author, poet and international lectures on Baloch Qaum Parast Rights.