Islamabad:  Pakistan is going through a long economic crisis, in such a situation the Pakistan government has decided to help China. Pakistan decided to provide an additional budget of Rs 45 billion for the armed forces, mainly aimed at strengthening the ability to protect Chinese interests in the cash-strapped country and manage fencing on international borders.

According to the report, this decision was taken in a meeting of the Cabinet's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Thursday, which was chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. According to the information received, out of Rs 45 billion, an amount of Rs 35.4 billion will be given to the army and an amount of Rs 9.5 billion will be given to the navy for various purposes.

ECC considered the proposal

The ECC considered and approved the proposal submitted by the Defence Division for technical grants worth Rs45 billion for already approved projects of the defence services.

This is the second major proposal approved for the armed forces after the budget approval in June. Earlier, the ECC had given Rs 60 billion for Operation Azm-e-Istehkam. These supplementary grants are in addition to the defense budget of Rs 2.127 trillion.

Request to sign the agreement

Due to the increasing number of terror attacks, China has sought to sign an agreement on anti-terrorism cooperation to address its security concerns. China has also proposed the establishment of a joint company to ensure the safety of its citizens already working in Pakistan or engaged during CPEC Phase II.

Under the first phase, the two sides have completed 38 projects worth US$25.2 billion. Of these, 17 projects worth US$18 billion were completed in the energy sector, according to the paper.

26 projects are in the pipeline

Around 26 projects worth US$26.8 billion are in the pipeline and many of them have been included in CPEC Phase II. China has also proposed that the vehicle mounted mobile security equipment project should also be included in the second phase besides launching a project on ballistic protective vehicles.

The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a major infrastructure project in Pakistan, launched in 2015 as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.