Addressing a press conference two days after US Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells, strongly criticised Chinas international development projects and lending practices under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Pakistans newly appointed Minister for Planning Asad Umar said that CPEC would not prove to be a burden for the country but help in providing a strong basis for industrial growth for the coming years..] that both countries have benefitted from CPEC."We have said this on many occasions in the past [.Dawn quoted Umar as saying that Pakistan "has always recognised that CPEC is not an aid and this government has always maintained that it wishes to move past the initial scope of the arrangement. The lack of infrastructure in Pakistan, especially in the power sector, was where a lot of the countrys needs were met," he added.The CPEC is a multi-billion dollar development project, with a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistans strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.

The aid that Pakistan received in the past did not really contribute in real terms towards the countrys progress and she was right to point out that we must stand on our own two feet," Umar said..Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday rejected United States notion of Beijing being the sole benefactor of its China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), zinc alloy double expansion anchor and asserted that its relations with China within the purview of the project will never fray.In her address at an event in Washington, Wells had deemed CPEC a form of financing ensuring guaranteed profits for Chinese state-owned enterprises, and pointed out that the multi-billion dollar project is certain to take a toll on Pakistans economy.She had raised concerns over the lack of transparency in the project, saying that it could foster corruption and increase the project cost, thereby resulting in an even heavier debt burden for Pakistan.. Chinese firms got business as their machinery was exported and came to Pakistan