Pakistani newspaper Dawn has published details from a leaked report, outlining China's plans for Pakistan, all of which sounds rather concerning from an Indian vantage.
Pakistan is planning to give deep and unprecedented access to China and Chinese firms in most parts of its economy--ranging from an advanced "surveillance" system and telecom network connecting the two countries, swathes of agricultural land and industrial markets--and allowing the "dissemination of Chinese culture" through Chinese public broadcast television, Pakistani daily Dawn reported, accessing a confidential report detailing plans.
According to the report, these measures are among several long-term initiatives that the Pakistan government is about to finalise with China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) talks and its master plan. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is currently on a visit to China for the 'One Belt, One Road Summit' and the CPEC is among his top agenda items, said the report.
As per the CPEC master plan, "thousands of acres of agricultural land will be leased out to Chinese enterprises to set up demonstration projects," a "full monitoring and surveillance system" is to be built in "cities from Peshawar to Karachi, with 24 hour video recordings on roads and busy marketplaces for law and order," as well as a national fibreoptic network that will enable not just Internet traffic, but also help broadcast Chinese media in the "dissemination of Chinese culture," Dawn reported.
Dawn noted the scope of the plan is a first in Pakistan's history, and will entail not just boosting the market presence of Chinese companies and their goods in Pakistan, but also opening up of key infrastructure sectors such as agriculture, energy, cement and building materials, textiles and garments, industrial parks, as well as Pakistani society to Chinese investment and enterprises. Agriculture will be among the main area of focus, according to the Dawn report.
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