During a meeting on Sunday, Pakistan’s interior minister Rana Sanaullah attempted to allay the worries and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the safety and security of both its people and foreigners living in Pakistan.
It should be noted that the Chinese embassy in Pakistan likewise stopped offering consular services, claiming technical difficulties, although it didn’t give a timeframe for when it would resume. u201cConsular Section of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad will be temporarily closed from February 13, 2023u2002until further notice, due to technical issues,u201d, the notification said. The notification also provided crucial details and contact information for those who required information and assistance with passports and travel papers immediately.
The Chinese embassy’s official website posted the announcement. The announcement follows the Chinese government’s warning last week to Chinese nationals travelling to Pakistan to exercise caution since the country’s security situation is deteriorating and they may be in danger.
Video Courtesy: Hindustan Times
Terror attacks have increased in Pakistan after the Pakistani Taliban group broke off a tenuous cease-fire with the government in late last year. In an effort to jeopardise a significant portion of Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure programme, numerous terrorist organisations in Pakistan have often targeted Chinese people working on the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC, which costs USD 65 billion, is a network of ports, pipelines, railroads, and highways in Pakistan that connects China to the Arabian Sea. The BRI is anticipated to aid Pakistan in growing and modernising its economy.
A female suicide bomber last April killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi along with their local driver, targeting nationals from Pakistan’s most important partner and seeking to undermine a relationship on which Islamabad’s financial survival largely depends. It should be noted that in early February, the government of Pakistan’s Punjab province ordered Chinese nationals employed by private businesses to hire private security firms for their protection.
The Special Protection Unit (SPU), which the provincial government established in 2014, is not currently outfitted to offer security protection to Chinese nationals who are not involved in projects supported by the Pakistani government. According to the provincial government’s home department, it will do its duties by examining the private security firms that Chinese nationals who work for private companies or who own their own businesses contract for their security.
Pakistan also witnessed a bomb blast in Peshawar, that injured more than 80 people and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region has been restive since the end of 2022 as the ceasefire deal between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Pakistan has been called off.
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