Imran and cabinet to blame for making CPEC controversial: Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal lashed out at the government on Sunday, blaming Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members for making the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects controversial.

The former interior minister said that misunderstandings would not have been created if the prime minister and members of his cabinet had not given irresponsible comments about the CPEC projects.

"Irresponsible statements from the PTI have already made matters worse," he was quoted as saying. "The government should refrain from giving unverified statistics on CPEC projects."

He said that the government had been wrong in stating that the total amount of loans taken from China were $18 billion. He also said that without a doubt this was not a loan for Pakistan but a relaxation.

"The total amount of loans taken from China amount to $5.8 billion," said Ahsan. 

"All energy projects are in the form of investment," he added.

Chinese Ambassador to China, Yao Jing, on Friday rejected US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Alice Wells’ recent statement regarding CPEC, saying that Beijing will never force Islamabad to make timely payments of its debt, unlike the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"If Pakistan is in need, China would never ask it to repay its loans in time," said Jing.