Pakistan on Thursday rejected as “propaganda” reports that China was going to establish a military base near the strategic Gwadar port in southern Balochistan province.
“There is no proposal of building any Chinese military base near Gwadar. This is all propaganda against the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and strengthening of relations between Pakistan and China,” Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Mohammad Faisal said.
The nearly $50 billion CPEC – a flagship project of China’s prestigious One Belt One Road – passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
It links China’s restive Xinjiang region with Pakistan’s Balochistan province. India has objected to CPEC as it traverses through PoK.
Responding to a question about India test-firing an interceptor missile, Faisal said Pakistan always maintained that anti-ballistic missile systems entail destabilising effects, especially in the regional context and can provoke an arms race.
“We have proposed several missile and nuclear restraint measures to India that include the commitment not to deploy ballistic missile defence systems. Pakistan will continue to follow a policy of restraint and responsibility while taking all necessary measures to ensure our national security,” he said.
Faisal said India’s attempts to attribute ulterior motives to the basic security protocol for Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav are “testament to their double standards”.
