Attack on the
Chinese Consulate: Main Target is Pak-China CPEC Project (JR83 SS01)
By Sajjad Shaukat
Pakistan’s
security forces successfully foiled an attack on the Chinese consulate in
Karachi on November 23, this year.
In the exchange of firing, two
policemen were martyred, including two civilians, as three gunmen tried to
enter the consulate around 9:30am but were intercepted by security guards at a
checkpoint.
Karachi Police Chief Dr Amir Shaikh
said, “Three suspected suicide bombers were killed before they were able to
enter the facility as forces successfully foiled the attack...They could not
even get in the compound. They tried to get into the visa section…The men came
to the consulate in a car which was loaded with explosives.”
The clearance
operation was initially led by a female Police Officer Assistant Superintendent
of Police Suhai Talpur. Her courage has been greatly appreciated by the top
officials of Pakistan.
On the same day, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, “All staff members of the
Chinese consulate remained safe in the attack...It was a cowardly attempt by
terrorists.”
The Director
General of the Inter Services Publication Directorate (ISPR), Maj. Gen. Asif
Ghafoor also confirmed by saying,
“Terrorists attempted to enter Chinese consulate. Rangers and police have got
control. Three terrorists killed. All Chinese are safe”. He also stated, “Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa
expressed grief at the martyrdom of two policemen in the attempted attack on
the Chinese consulate in Karachi’s Clifton area, hailing their sacrifice
for the greater cause of protecting the citizens.”
While ordering an immediate inquiry regarding the assault on the Chinese
consulate in Karachi, Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack, terming
it as a conspiracy against Pak-China economic and strategic relations. He
stated, “The elements and motives behind this attack should be uncovered…the
nation is proud of the prompt action of the Rangers and police…who were
martyred foiling the attack.”
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry condemned the assault on the Chinese
consulate in Karachi and labeled it a “conspiracy”, targeting Pakistan-China
socioeconomic and strategic ties.” He added, “Such incidents cannot hinder the
friendship between the two neighbours.”
Almost all the leaders of the mainstream political and religious parties
condemned the foiled assault on the Chinese consulate in Karachi and hailed the
role of the security forces in this respect.
Besides, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman Geng Shuang stated on the same day of the incident, “China strongly
condemned the attack on its consulate in Karachi all consular staff and
their families were safe following the shooting…We highly appreciate the
efforts of the Pakistani side…The Chinese embassy in Pakistan has extended
condolences over the martyrdom of two Pakistani policemen and said any attempt
to undermine China-Pakistan friendship is doomed to fail…the attack would not
affect Beijing’s commitment to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) which seeks to connect its western province Xinjiang with the
Arabian Sea port of Gwadar, in Balochistan….China and Pakistan are all-weather
strategic partners.”
It is notable
that a separatist group of the Balochistan province, the Balochistan Liberation
Army (BLA) claimed responsibility of the failed terror attempt on the Chinese consulate
in Karachi through a tweet. However,
such claims of responsibility have no material value because all such anti-state elements always try to
score numbers when an incident like this occurs.
Meanwhile,
Pakistan’s media and reliable sources disclosed that mastermind of terrorist attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi—Aslam
alias Achu is a commander of BLA and is currently receiving medical treatment
at Max Hospital in the Indian capital New Delhi.
Undoubtedly, it shows the connections of the Indian secret agency RAW in
relation to the foiled attempt at the Chinese consulate of Karachi.
In other
terror-related incident, on the same day, at least 35 people were killed and 50
wounded in a blast in Kalaya area
of lower Orakzai district in Hangu.
It is of particular
attention that armed forces of Pakistan have successfully broken the backbone
of the foreign-backed terrorists by the successful military operations
Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad which have also been extended to other parts of
the country, including Balochistan. And Pakistan’s primarily intelligence
agency, ISI has broken the network of these terrorist groups by capturing
several militants, while thwarting a number of terror attempts. But, in the recent past and during the
election-campaign of 2019, blasts in Balochistan and other regions of the
country, including the latest ones in Hangu and especially at the Chinese consulate
in Karachi show that the US-led India, Afghanistan and Israel have again
started acts of sabotage especially to destabilize Pakistan and to damage the CPEC
which is their main target— particularly of India and America.
Notably, the
assassination of religious clear Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the “Father of
the Taliban” on November 2, this year in Islamabad was part of the same scheme
to weaken Pakistan, also due to the fact that Pakistan is the only nuclear
country in the Islamic World.
It is mentionable that during the successful four-day visit of
Premier Khan to China, Beijing on November 2, 2018, reportedly agreed to
provide USD 6 billion in aid to cash-strapped Pakistan to minimise its
dependence on an IMF bailout package. A loan of USD 1.5 billion is also expected
to be offered, along with an additional package of USD three billion for CPEC.
The loan and the investments were reportedly part of the USD six billion
package. According to the joint statement, released on November 4, 2018, the two sides also signed fifteen Agreements/MoUs on a
range of bilateral issues.
Pakistan
and China also agreed to trade in their local currencies in an effort to reduce
dependence on the US dollar. Particularly, Pakistan will save more than 12
billion dollars annually by importing goods in its local currency.
It
is noteworthy that it is first time in the history of Pakistan that on November 20,
2018, the government led by P.M Imran Khan
refused to accept tough conditions laid down by the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) for a financial bailout package. Besides, other tough conditions such as further
increase in power tariffs, imposition of more taxes etc., especially, the
condition of sharing details related to Chinese financial assistance was also
rejected. In fact, IMF is controlled by America, which has always imposed tough
conditions to release loans in order to further destabilize Pakistan by
targeting the general masses.
It is also of
particular attention that India was openly opposing the CPEC and China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) or BRI; the US also joined New Delhi. In this context,
on October 3, 2017, US Defence Secretary James Mattis told the Lawmakers, “The
United States has reiterated its support for India’s opposition to China’s One
Belt, One Road initiative…the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) a part of which traverses Pakistan-Kashmir.”
Islamabad
strongly dismissed the statement from the American defence chief that the
multibillion-dollar road and rail network “CPEC which is part of China’s One
Belt, One Road initiative, passes through a disputed territory of Kashmir”, urging “the international community to focus on
blatant human rights violations and heinous crimes committed by Indian
occupation forces in the Indian Occupied Kashmir” (IOK), and reminded the US
that Washington had also participated in an OBOR summit.
Earlier, a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry also dismissed
Mattis’ statement, saying that the OBOR plan was backed by the United Nations
and that CPEC was an economic cooperation initiative.
In this regard,
repeated threats of the US President Donald Trump and top American officials to
Islamabad and other moves like suspension of latter’s aid were part of the same
scheme to thwart the CPEC.
The fact is that
Indian lobbies which are well-penetrated in the US administration and Europe,
research centers, think tanks and so-called human rights groups utilize the
media tools in defaming Pakistan internationally. Especially, Indian RAW is
availing the opportunity of the US-led organized propaganda campaign against
Pakistan. Now, CPEC is special target of these hostile entities.
The reality is
that when Gwadar seaport becomes fully operational, it would connect the
landlocked Central Asian states with rest of the world. Being the commercial
hub, the port is likely to increase volume of trade, bringing multiple economic
and financial benefits to Pakistan like the Suez Canal which changed the
destiny of Egypt when Israel returned it to the former. It will enable
high-volume cargo vessels to move in the major oceans. Gwadar project which is
backbone of the CPEC will uplift the impoverished people of Balochistan and
Gilgit-Baltistan, including developments in other provinces by providing
thousands of employment opportunities, particularly to the less developed areas
by redressing their grievances. The resulting prosperity in Balochistan and
Gilgit-Baltistan would damp the separatist sentiments of the people, which the
hostile elements, supported by the US, India and Israeli do not want.
Therefore, these entities and their media describe the CPEC in negative terms.
As a matter of
fact, since the occupation of Afghanistan by the US-led NATO forces, the
country has become center of CIA, RAW and Israeli Mossad which are in
connivance to obtain the covert designs of the their countries and some Western
countries against Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran. Under the cover of fighting
terrorism, these foreign agencies which are also in collaboration with the Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of
Security (NDS), support
the militants of ISIS and Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),
including their linked outfits which have been conducting terror-assaults in
Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the secret strategy of the US-led
countries. Besides, these terrorist outfits are weakening Tibetan regions of
China and Iranian Sistan-Baluchistan through subversive activities.
Notably, on March 24, 2016, Pakistan’s security forces
disclosed that they arrested the serving agent of RAW in Balochistan. During
investigation and in a video, shown on Pakistan’s TV channels, RAW agent
Kulbushan Yadav confessed that “he was the agent of RAW” and “during his stay,
he contacted various Baloch separatist leaders and insurgents, including Dr
Allah Nazar Baloch, to execute the task to damage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor”
project. Yadav admitted that he spied for India and was “assigned with the task
to create unrest in Karachi and Balolchitan.”
Nevertheless, one has to evoke as to who could be the prime beneficiary
of such an action against the Chinese in Pakistan. These are those elements who do not want to see Pakistan– China
cooperation which has put the country on the road to progress.
In this connection, P.M. Imran Khan’s very successful visit to China and
the advancements in the CPEC are of great distress and discomfort for those who
do not want to see such initiatives, taking place between the two countries. In simple
words this attack at the Chinese consulate was an attack on the CPEC and
Pak-China friendship.
It is worth-mentioning that Karachi, the financial capital of Pakistan,
reportedly has number of sleeping cells being operated by RAW, NDS and other
hostile intelligence agencies. It is evident that the terrorist were part of
these sleeping cells. Pakistan’s investigation units and intelligence agencies
have already pointed out that such cells are being operated by RAW, NDS and
other hostile agencies in Karachi.
In the recent years, these anti-Pakistan secret agencies have been
conducting frequent attacks on the Pakistani forces and Chinese manpower working
in Pakistan
as well as on projects being completed under CPEC is going to change the fate
of the people of this region especially Pakistan.
China and the US
are pitched against each other on trade war. Asia and especially this region,
being the economic future of the world, have gained attention of the world
powers. This is the reason, why America
has been spending billions of dollars just to stay in Afghanistan, despite the
tremendous reverses being faced by the Americans. This interest goes till the
extent where the US is now ready to even negotiate with their biggest
adversary, the Talibans, just to maintain their presence in Afghanistan
under the nose of China and Pakistan.
India being the collation partner of the US has opened 22 consulates in
Afghanistan to counter the economic prosperity of Pakistan and CPEC and for
working hands in glove with the NDS to generate unrest in Pakistan through
sabotage and terrorism.
It means that being
the future economic hub, this region; particularly Pakistan could face more
terrorism-related events in the coming days. So, it is in their collective interests that both Islamabad and Beijing
should remain focused on their economic goals and remain steadfast to meet
similar future challenges.
Again, it is pointed out that initial operation at the Chinese consulate was
led by a female Police Officer ASP Suhai Talpur, which proves that Pakistani
girls and women folks are on the forefront to defeat evil designs of CIA-RAW-NDS
nexus.
We can conclude that the CPEC is the main target of the foiled attack on the Chinese consulate
in Karachi.
Note: I have
updated my similar article.
Sajjad Shaukat
writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic
Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International
Relations
