A parliamentary committee has cleared with majority vote the “China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020” which was blocked by the Opposition members during the last meeting, a media report said on Wednesday.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Planning and Development presided over by ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Junaid Akbar took up the government bill on Tuesday. After a detailed discussion, the committee agreed to decide the fate of the bill through voting.
The Opposition members said their objections over the creation of the CPEC Authority (CPECA) had not been addressed and the creation of a new authority would affect CPEC projects instead of expediting them.
The USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is fully funded by Beijing under the multi-billion One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said the CPECA would have no powers as all work would be carried out by the line ministries and added that the authority’s operations would not be in conflict with the working of the line ministries.
