Radio Brisvaani
China’s summit for its new Silk Road is missing 44 heads of state from the 65 nations involved.
As China opened one of its biggest foreign policy initiatives since 1949 — the One Belt One Road (OBOR) summit in Beijing, which is being attended by heads of state and government of over 20 plus nations, including Pakistan. China’s OBOR summit is missing 44 heads of state from the 65 nations involved.
Protests broke out in Gilgit-Baltistan against the ongoing construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project+ under the Belt and Road initiative.
Various students and political organisations including Karakoram Students Organisation, Balawaristan National Students Organisation, Gilgit Baltistan United Movement and Balawaristan National Front have been protesting against OBOR in Gilgit, Hunza, Skardu and Ghizer.
They described the project as an illegal attempt to grab Gilgit and see it as a “Road of Gulami or Slavery for Gilgit-Baltistan”. Protestors across Gilgit see the CPEC and OBOR as a ploy by China to take over their territory. Carrying placards and banners stating “Stop Chinese Imperialism” protestors have been calling on the world community to stop the Chinese transgression on Gilgit’s soil which remains disputed since 1948-49. They claimed that China has entered Gilgit-Baltistan illegally with the help of Pakistan, adding that a well conceived two-pronged strategy has been put in place to facilitate continued Chinese military presence in Pakistan and to counter the US+ through CPEC.
The $51.5 billion multi-layered infrastructure project aims to connect Kashgar in China’s western Xinjiang province with Gwadar Port in Balochistan. China is reportedly establishing some military bases in Gilgit-Baltistan, a territory whose sovereignty is disputed, said the founder of the Gilgit-Baltistan Thinkers Forum, Wajahat Khan.
