Beijing: China is pushing Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to thousands of its nationals working in the South Asian country, after a car bombing near Karachi’s airport that was seen as a major security breach, media reports said.
According to the Dawn newspaper, Beijing may use its private security companies to protect its workers in Pakistan under a possible joint security mechanism between Beijing and Islamabad, the publicly known details of which remain limited.
Chinese nationals working in Pakistan, mostly under the $62-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, have been targeted by terrorist attacks twice within six months, while a convoy of foreign diplomats narrowly escaped another attack while recently visiting Swat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Last month, an airport bombing in the southern port city killed two Chinese engineers returning to work on a project after a holiday in Thailand.
The attacks, and Islamabad's failure to deter them, seem to have irked China, which has pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system. Neither Beijing nor Islamabad confirmed the talks officially.
As per a Reuters report, sources said there was a consensus on setting up a joint security management system, and that Pakistan was amenable to Chinese officials sitting in on security meetings and coordination. But there was no agreement on their participation in security arrangements on the ground. An official said Pakistan had asked China for help in improving its intelligence and surveillance capabilities instead of direct involvement.
