Modern Diplomacy
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his visit to Pakistan in 2015. In beginning, it was $46 billion project but now its worth has been increased to $62 billion. The project provided Pakistan a breathing space in 2015 as it was inflicted with multiple challenges like terrorism, internal destabilization, energy crisis and infrastructure lacking. The issues were stumbling block in its triumph, so, Pakistan took Chinese help to resolve all those through CPEC in different phases. In the initial phase, capacity building of Pakistan was pivotal aspiration of China under CPEC through infrastructure and energy projects. After thriving completion of the first phase, CPEC has now entered into its second phase where industrialization, agriculture, science, improving livelihood of people and technology transfer to Pakistan are the key goals.
Modern Diplomacy
Published 3 months ago
The U.S. State Department’s newly announced sanctions against Turkey mark a rare occasion where one NATO ally imposes economic restrictions against another. This was a disappointing move for my organization, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council. As the oldest business council in Turkey representing some of the largest and most well-known companies, our mission is to advocate for stronger ties between our countries through business and trade and we oppose any policy that drives us further apart. To our members, the State Department’s sanctions are a step in the wrong direction.
The U.S.-Turkey relationship does not need to be contentious. Our alliance is vitally important for the national security and defense of both countries, but it’s more than that. It’s a decades-long economic partnership that ensures the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Americans and Turks. Turkish companies have billions of dollars invested in the United Sta