Pakistan and China have decided to form a joint parliamentary committee for “effective oversight” and “monitoring” of the projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

According to a report on Dawn, the decision was taken during a high-level meeting between Pakistan’s National Assembly speaker and the chairman of the Chinese National Peoples Congress. In the meeting, both sides also agreed to enhance parliamentary cooperation between the two countries through the dialogue between standing committees as well as the parliamentary friendship groups of both countries.

The proposal of the joint oversight through parliamentary committees came from Pakistan’s Speaker Asad Qaiser. Interestingly, last week, the opposition parties in Pakistan have accused their government of shifting the control of CPEC projects from the civilian government to the military establishment.

Importantly, the Chinese delegation also raised the issue of the security of CPEC projects that often comes under attacks by the Baluch and other insurgent groups in Pakistan. The Pakistani speaker assured them, saying the security of projects remained the highest priority for his government. Any activities to disrupt the projects will not be tolerated, he added.