INTRODUCTIONS

Pakistan is a growing nation with many internal and external problems that are weakening both its economic conditions and national integration, Pakistan is located in a very crucial geographic strategic location (Siddiqui, 2019).

China and Pakistan claim that the people on both sides of the Himalayas have been interacting with each other since ancient times with trust and honest relations. Since 1947, Pakistan and China have held fast to the five principles of co-existence, respect, superior assurance, shared welt, and affliction and maintain the most well-built relationship (Ghulam, 2017).

Premier Li Keqiang imagined the idea of CPEC in 2013 during his visit to Pakistan, later it got an official outline during Chinese President Xi’s visit in April 2015 in Pakistan, Premier Li Keqiang visited Pakistan in May 2013, where he met with Pakistani officials and came significant agreements regarding the planning and construction of the massive China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will connect Kashgar in Xinjiang with the port of Gwadar in Pakistan from north to south at the hub of the New Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road in the twenty-first century. The trade route runs between Pakistan and the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa,  (Mengsheng, 2015).

When Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif traveled to China in 2014, he signed 19 agreements with the country. At the time, Chinese banks and businesses had pledged their support for constructing the corridor's infrastructure and energy infrastructure. President Xi Jinping of China visited Pakistan in April 2015 to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. During their meeting, Xi and Nawaz signed 51 agreements worth a combined $46 billion between China and Pakistan, 51 of which related to the expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor., (Abid Massarrat , Ashfaq Ayesha, 2018).

GEOGRAPY OF CPEC

The main project crosses the majority of Pakistan from Gwadar in Baluchistan to Kashgar in western China, traversing through portions of the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan, and the Khunjerab Pass into Xinjiang,   (Abid Massarrat , Ashfaq Ayesha, 2018).

INTERNAL SECURITY CHALLENGE

The enormous and significant responsibility intended for the successful achievement of the project is the main concern of protection challenges for Pakistan and China. The country of Pakistan is faced a lot of issues like terrorism and extremism since 1990. According to the perspective of internal security, Pakistan should confront a number of internal difficulties.

The most forward-thinking Taliban in Pakistan (TTP), particularly in KPK's FATA and Swat regions, provide obstacles. The Tehreek e Taliban (TTP) and various other militant organizations in Pakistani tribal regions. The challenge is terrorism and religious extremism, both of which pose a serious threat to the CPEC. The religious and ethnic violence and the sectarian conflict between different sets in Pakistan. The Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan have provided nonstop support to the insurgents and are backed by insurgency. Taliban has close relations with the wazirs, Ahmadzai and Mahsuds, Durrani, in north and south Waziristan (Ibara Muhammad ,Rafiq Muhammad ,Mi, Jaining, 2016).

The biased disturbances, safekeeping situation, and administration issues are the major security challenges for Pakistan.

The enemy of Pakistan both within and outside of a country like India is unhappy to see this project because these projects become game changer for Pakistan economic and strategic position.

In Pakistan, some political parties like ANP, Balochi Nationalist, MAP, and JUI (F) raised their objection due to the unequal part rights to the provinces.

The province of Baluchistan is a most important factor in the project of Gwadar port is the main backbone of CPEC, This region has been ruled for more than ten years by a deadly separatist insurgency, Baloch rebels who oppose the project, gas pipeline, and trains route. It is located along one of the world's major trade routes, connecting the deepwater port of Gwadar with the city of Kashgar.

The rebel Baloch group assaulted fuel tankers carrying supplies to a Chinese mining business while also kidnapping and executing dairy workers in Balochi communities.

The few political parties of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are also opposed to this corridor due to the change of the original plan of the corridor by the federal government which will redirect economic benefits to only Punjab.

The main obstacle to Pakistan's CPEC project's completion will be the country's lack of political cohesion.

From Xinjiang to Gwadar, there is a bow of militancy made up of organizations like the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the Tehreek-E-Taliban (TTP), and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ) Daesh (ISIS) both the Baluchistan Liberation Front and the Baluchistan Liberation Army;

• Security threads by the extremist group.
• Opposition to separatist factions.
• Uncertainty about success owing to political instability or a lack of consensus.
• Invested funds that might be stolen due to corruption. The independence militants in Baluchistan are facing security issues.
• Balochi have long felt excluded and denied of social, political, and economic rights, despite the fact that Baluchistan has abundant natural resources. They lack access to safe drinking water and basic health care, (Ahmad, 2017).
• The Baloch people are afraid and hostile to the Gwadar projects since they cannot get royal rights owing to Chinese government control, and non-local individuals dominate Baluchistan's native resources.

Gwadar and Kashgar are two main points which are going too connected through the CPEC, but these two main regions facing the lot of security challenges. It is being expected in China that the construction of five economic zones in the economic hub reduces the security risk such as the separatist and militant movement of the Uyghur. In the same way, in Baluchistan, there is a lot of security challenges for separatist and militant groups who are against the project and some Balochi group have demanded equal rights from CPEC, only one economic zone will b possible in the backward province of Pakistan. The Pakistani government only focuses on short-term security measures for the only safety of routes, workforce, and other matters according to security projects. Pakistan is equally concerned about the security of the Chinese workforce. In order to secure the Chinese workers under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Pakistani Army is moving in that direction and has planned to build an army of 10,000 soldiers.  (Mengsheng, 2015).

Pakistan does not have a constitution or legal rights to the area of Gilgit-Baltistan as its official land until 2021 due to its unclear territory, which has infuriated nationalists and the people of GB. Undefined rights, as well as nationalist organizations, pose a security threat to Pakistan. India is also involved in regional unrest, separatist movements, extremism, and the growing sectarianism between Shia and Sunni Muslims (Ismail, 2019).

The division of Pakistan's countries along sectarian, caste, and creed lines has exacerbated the problem, as has the disparity between haves and have-nots. Nationalist and sub-nationalist organizations and parties also object to the CPEC's path. A significant security obstacle for implementing the CPEC is Baluchistan's difficult security condition. For the CPEC, Baluchistan's militancy and turmoil pose a serious security risk. The socioeconomic and security index are very alarming, Baluchistan is experiencing a drinking and irrigation water shortage, 70% of the population there lives in poverty, Pakistan's educational and healthcare systems are in a precarious state, the Taliban, insurgency militancy, violent extremists, Baloch separatist groups, and other challenges are present in Baluchistan, and there are state actors from India involved, to name a few, pose a threat to Pakistan. The Pakhtoon nationalist leaders have expressed disapproval and blamed the federal government for the modifications made to the original route. Nationalists from Sindh, particularly Sindh ethnic nationalist organizations and Sindh Desh revolutionaries, also played the federal government off against one another. The Pakistani military has established the Special Security Division (SSD), which consists of nine army battalions, the Frontier Crops (FC), and the Rangers. It has a force of 10,000 to protect the dairy workers who are employed beneath the corridor. (Siddiqui M. , 2019)..

According to the nationalist group of Gilgit-Baltistan, China, Pakistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan are the three primary stakeholders involved in the project. Gilgit-Baltistan is a disagreement region that is neither division of China, India, nor Pakistan. It gained independence from the Kashmiri Raja on November 1, 1947, and has its own cultural and historical identity. Gilgit inhabitants desire to join the CPEC as a third party.

CPEC AND ITS RISKS FOR PAKISTAN

The economic corridor is vital in significant efforts for Pakistan's trade and industry development and solving energy issues.

However, Pakistan faces several exposures in several domains, which are detailed below.

Political Risk

Possibility of war, Issues of Kashmir, Interferes of international powers, Pakistan's neighbors wreaked havoc on the country.,  Issues inside Pakistan's political parties owing to a lack of unity among them,  Issues from the Baluch Nationalist Party

Safety Risk

Natural disasters, Environmental effects, Extremism in region, NGO interferences.

Language and Cultural Risk

Influences of others languages like Chinese’s and English, Influence of Europeans and Chinese’s cultural

The Taliban take control of Afghanistan in a coup on August 15, 2021, and President Asharf Gahni escapes to Oman. All US soldiers in Afghanistan will leave on August 31st. As US troops leave, the Taliban celebrates its independence. The changing Afghanistan situation will have positive and bad consequences for Pakistan. Taliban will face a number of challenges, including international reorganization, restoring peace to Afghanistan, gaining Afghans' trust, developing the economy, deciding their relationship with neighbors, and combatting narcotics and weapons, to name a few.

CONCLUSION:

China and Pakistan have enjoyed close historical and bilateral ties since 1949. The friendships between the two countries are "upper than the highlands, more profound than the pacific waters, and sweeter than honey," according to Chinese media. For Pakistan's developing economy, the 62 billion dollar project has been branded a game-changer. Strategic and economic links are developing more firmly. The region will experience peace, prosperity, and stability as a result of the deepening of economic and geopolitical connections between Pakistan and China. The corridor's security is at the forefront of south Asia's shifting dynamics since this region has had serious issues since the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Examples of this include India's hostility toward Pakistan, the formation of the Islamic State in Afghanistan in 1996, and the Baloch conflict in Baluchistan.

The scenario of South Asia shifted after September 11th, when the United States attacked Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban administration. NATO soldiers are bombing several parts of Afghanistan, and three million Afghans have fled to Pakistan for safety. ISIS, Taliban, and Al Qaeda are major global terrorist organizations that pose significant security threats to Pakistan. The Mismanagement, corruption, political instability, a deteriorating infrastructure, terrorism, militancy, and the precarious situation in Baluchistan are among the problems that Pakistan is dealing with.

Because of the world's focus on the region, Pakistan and China need peace and stability in Afghanistan. All terrorist groups and all international intelligence agencies operate for their own interests in Afghanistan, not for the stability of the country; the project's continuation depends on the country's security and peace. Following the Taliban's capture, the international community aims to restore peace and security to the region.

Trade is essential for a country's tangible backbone in the twenty-first century. Every country wants to form alliances with other nations in order to boost exports and imports. After Afghanistan's progressive integration into the Central Asian economic system, the initiative will open Pakistani seaports on the Arabian Gulf to Afghanistan and other Central Asian nations.

Pakistan's security along 300 kilometers of the corridor, as well as the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, are critical considerations in the corridor's success.

REFERENCES:

Abid Massarrat , Ashfaq Ayesha. (2018). Cpec: Challenges And Opportunities For Pakistan. Pakistan Vision.

Ghulam, A. (2017). China-Pakistan Relations: A Historical Analysis. Karachi: Oxford University Press.

Ibara Muhammad ,Rafiq Muhammad ,Mi, Jaining. (2016). The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Security Challenges. 2016 2nd Asia-Pacfice Mangement And Engineering Conference (APME 2016), (P. 75). China.

Ishaq Muhammad , Ahmad Bilal. (2017). CPEC: Opportunities, Threats, And Challenges. International Affairs And Global Strategy.

Ismail, Muhammad. (2019). The Project Of CPEC: Benefits And Drawbacks For Gilgit_Baltistan. Pakistan Journal Of International Affairs.

Mengsheng, T. (2015). How To Desing The Layout Of Cpec. Gc University,  Lahore.

Saleem, S. (2019). CPEC: A New Political, Economic, And Strategic Game. Lahore: Sagar Publisher, Urdu Bazar Lahore.

Siddiqui, M. (2019). Security Threats And Challenges To Pak-China Economic Corridor. Pakistan Journal Of International Affairs.