ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Tuesday again reaffirmed its commitment to 46 billion China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

During a high level meeting on CPEC, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Khusro Bakhtiar said that the project is symbol of friendship between both the countries. He said new Industrial Zones will be established in the whole country and electricity will be supplied to whole country including Balochistan.

He further said transportation of goods will be made economical and easy by Railways and Pakistan is committed to strengthen the rail system from Karachi to Peshawar.

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qasider, while chairing the meeting, said that early completion of the project is the top priority of both the countries. He said that future of the people of the both the nations was attached with the project and so its completion is inevitable. He said that during the recent visit of the Foreign Minister of China a detailed discussion has been done for its early completion.

The speaker said the present government has fully focused on the project and that coastal areas of the country will become hub of the trade and business due to the CPEC. After completion of the project, the system of the Railways will be expanded and become economical.

The meeting was attended by Pervez Khattak, Minister for Defence, Muhammad Qasim Khan Suri, Deputy Speaker National Assembly, Khusro Bukhtiar, Minister of Planning and Development and Reforms, Murad Saeed, State Minister, Muhammad Shehzad Arbab, Advisor for Establishment Division, Senator Fida Muhammad, members of Provincial Assembly KP, local leaderships and concerned authorities of CEPC.

The assurance has come at a time when a financial daily carried a statement attributing to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on commerce, textiles, industries and investment Abdul Razzak Dawood that the Pakistan government was planning to review or renegotiate agreements reached under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The publication quoted Dawood blaming previous government for not negotiating correctly with Chinese on CPEC.

The governments of Pakistan and China both refuted the report that Pakistan is looking to renegotiate its position in Beijing's Belt-Road Initiative.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan while talking to select anchorpersons early this month reportedly said that his government would review all international agreements it inherited from the last Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government.

No official statement on the meeting was issued, but the details were shared by the participants. The prime minister asked the selected media to give his government three months before criticising its performance.

He promised that in three months, there would be a marked difference in the way the country was currently run.