The reconsideration of the OBOR's CPEC — an $8.2-billion revamp of a colonial-era rail line snaking from the Arabian Sea to the foothills of the Hindu Kush — has become a test of the country's ability to rethink the signature Chinese projects due to debt concerns, especially after lengthy delays. The changes are part of Islamabad’s efforts to rethink key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Pakistan, where Beijing has pledged about $60 billion in financing but the new government of populist Prime Minister Imran Khan appears to be more cautious about the Chinese investment. Earlier, Islamabad baulked at the cost and financing terms, with resistance to the Belt and Road Initiative (alternatively known as The One Belt One Road (OBOR)) — and especially the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — stiffening under the government of Khan, who has voiced alarm about rising debt levels and says the country must wean itself off foreign loans. Pakistani officials say they remain committed to Chinese investment but want to push harder on price and affordability, while re-orientating the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — for which Beijing has pledged about $60 billion in infrastructure funds — to focus on projects that deliver social development in line with PM Khan’s election promises. ISLAMABAD: China was open to the changes proposed by the new, Prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistani government and "will definitely follow their agenda” to work out a roadmap for BRI projects based on “mutual consultation”, Ambassador Yao Jing told Reuters on Sunday. “When people say it’s a project of national importance, that usually means it makes no sense financially,” he said.
The government of Pakistan is "rethinking" its dependence on China for the loans it needs to complete its Peshawar to Karachi rail project. This is part of a broader pushback on the ambitions of China's Belt and Road Initiative throughout the region.