Chinese officials on Sunday asked Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to stop attacks on its nationals working on the Balochistan region’s China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.
The demand from the Chinese side came during a meeting of senior officials of Pakistan and China, who discussed their perspectives on the international and regional security situations, as per reports.
The recent developments come following the Islamabad Police recently made a decision to set up a foreign security cell at the Central Police Office (CPO) with requisite staff as well as logistics amid the reports of Chinese nationals continuously being targeted in Pakistan.
It was planned to apply all standard operating procedures to non-China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) security projects on the pattern of CPEC security, as per reports.
In a similar way, the Special Branch, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Security Division will audit the security arrangements periodically.
Pakistan’s Army Chief General Bajwa led the Pakistani delegation in an “Apex meeting” with the Chinese military in China. Both sides have committed to improving cooperation in counter-terrorism.
Meanwhile, during the meeting, attacks on Chinese nationals by Baloch groups were also discussed. Pakistan’s geopolitical issues have propped up, as the Baloch insurgency poses a constant threat to peace and stability.
The Baloch insurgents regularly target CPEC infrastructure projects, such as gas pipelines and electricity towers, because they consider China an imperialist power that, along with the Pakistan government, wishes to plunder Balochistan’s natural resources.
“Both sides have talked about their perspectives on the international as well as regional security situation & expressed satisfaction on defence cooperation between the two countries,” Inter-Services Public Relation said in a press release.
