ML-1 Railway top agenda of Planning Minister’s visit to China

Progress on CPEC 2.0, ML-1 will be top agenda of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal’s visit to China, Gwadar Pro reported on Wednesday.

The primary focus during the visit will be on advancing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Phase II and ML-1 railway projects.

Earlier, on Tuesday during his meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, the Minister discussed progress on the ML1 project, cooperation with China for Green Revolution 2.0, Chinese manufacturing units of electric cars in Pakistan, and training of athletes/players by Chinese coaches in Pakistan for the South Asian Games 2025, and Gwadar plans. The federal minister who is now in China, said that ML1 is indispensable for the country’s communication and trade sectors. ML1 is a 150-year-old track.

He underlined the importance of the completion of the ML-1 project, saying the ML-1 project will also be on the agenda during the visit to China. We will have to suffer from more incidents if working on the ML-1 project is not started.

“The ML-1 project is quite important for empowering the communication and trade sectors. Pakistan will have to move ahead of China to complete the CPEC projects,” he said.

Expressing his thoughts, Iqbal said: “It will be the key agenda to ensure the development of CPEC phase II during the visit to China”.

Stressing the need for having a “vision” to uplift the country, he said, “We will have to come up with strong planning to pave the way for the opportunities in the region.”