Pakistani FM to leave for China to discuss Dasu bus blast

As pressure mounts on Imran Khan led government from across the country to adopt aggressive policy against enemies of CPEC and terrorists targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will leave for China Today (Thursday) for a two-day-visit.

According to officials in Islamabad, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood has something important to discuss with the Chinese authorities in connection with the future of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the attack on Chinese engineers who were working on ‘Dasu hydroelectric’ Dam .

“Following the attack on Chinese engineers last week, government authorities in Islamabad have termed the Foreign Minister’s visit to China very important,” an official of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

According to an official source, Foreign Minister of Pakistan will pass on a special message of Prime minister Imran Khan. Qureshi will also share preliminary investigation report of the attack on Chinese engineers last week which had left nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis dead.

“As Pakistan has clearly identified the forces operating within its territory and beyond borders, Islamabad needs to adopt aggressive policies against them. Please note, defensive policy against the terrorists will not work at all,” Asim Qadeer Rana, Islamabad expert on defense and International affairs told this correspondent.

“A critical analysis of Pakistan’s strategy regarding China-Pakistan Economic Corridor revealed that Islamabad has been adopting a defensive approach against the enemies. It has to be changed. Pakistan and China need to act together in a bid to eliminate their common enemy,” Rana added.

Likewise, an Islamabad-based senior executive of a Chinese firm advised the government of Pakistan to unleash a well prepared attack on enemies of CPEC who might be getting support from abroad.

“Hostile agencies are more active [against CPEC] than ever before. As you know CPEC is moving to a new phase, these agencies don’t want to see Chinese investors coming to Pakistan. If no investors come, Pakistan will meet a very harsh economic situation in the next 5-10 years. Pakistan has to decide either to act now or to get ready for the consequences in the future,” Mr. Dai Bao told this correspondent over the telephone.

“Pakistan should change from passive defense to positive fighting. All enemies are in shadows; if we just defend ourselves passively, we’re in danger at any time,” he added.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed had said that hostile agencies were hatching conspiracy theories to create misunderstandings between all-weather friends Pakistan and China.

“We have got to know that conspiracy theories are being hatched by enemies of Pakistan and China. We have to counter them. Good news is that the leadership of both Pakistan and China understand this and are working together to counter these theories,” Sheikh Rasheed told journalists earlier this week.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid claimed last Saturday that investigation of Dasu bus blast has reached its final stage and the perpetrators will be ‘exposed and brought to justice’.

A Chinese company was contracted to build the Dasu Hydropower Project in the remote Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The shuttle bus ferrying the Chinese and Pakistani workers to an under-construction tunnel site of the Dasu Hydropower Project was hit by a blast on Wednesday.

The blast has left nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis dead.