Along the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan: 'For Now It Works'

The police officer turns on the siren and the flashing red light. "It is for your safety," he slyly remarks as two armed guards mount the back of the escort vehicles. Security has been tightened on the Karakoram Highway. 

This comes after five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed in a suicide attack in March. Their burned-out bus is still stranded at the side of the road some weeks later. Yellow plastic tape is marking the crime scene. The Chinese group was on its way to work on a large hydropower project at Dasu, a massive dam construction that is part of the Chinese infrastructure investment in Pakistan's remote northwestern region through which the Karakoram Highway runs. 

With a total length of 1,300 km, the highway, also known as KKH or N35, is one of the highest paved roads in the world. It passes vast glaciers and 8,000-meter snow-capped peaks, ancient rock carvings, historic forts, wild apricot trees, and stony terraces with orchards. 

China's Belt and Road Initiative

It also passes two of the biggest hydroelectric projects in the world. One is the Dasu Dam and the other is the Diamer-Bhasha Dam. Both are part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Also, both will produce electricity by storing water from the Indus River, a lifeline for millions of people in Pakistan and India. 

The Diamar Dam project is a joint venture between one of China's largest state-owned electricity producers, China Power Investment Corporation, and Pakistan's military engineering organization, the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). It alone is expected to cost around $5 billion USD. The smaller Dasu Dam project is said to come with a price tag of $4.9 billion. 

Upgrading Work

For its mega projects, China has brought in thousands of workers, materials, equipment, vehicles, and machinery. Labor camps behind barbed wire are additionally surrounded by Pakistani security. Then once more they are fenced off entirely from the outside world. A peek over the high walls reveals Chinese traffic signs, but nothing much else. 

In addition to the dam construction, China is investing heavily in upgrading the KKH. It has built new bridges and tunnels, widened the road, and substituted gravel with tarmac. In doing so, it also tamed sharp serpentines and steep inclines. The impact has been striking. The 60-km stretch between Pakistan's capital Islamabad and the garrison town of Abbottabad has changed from a dusty country road to an eight-lane highway. It even has petrol stations and rest stops that would not be out of place in richer parts of the world. 

Billions in Chinese Investment 

Beijing's mega projects fall under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This is a network of roads, railways, and pipelines through Pakistan. 

One of the geostrategic aims of the 2,000-km-long corridor is to link China's western Xinjiang Province with the Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea. This would provide another land connection between China and Europe, shorten travel time, and provide an alternative to the sea route through the narrow Strait of Malacca between Indonesia and Malaysia. The initiative is said to cost China $62 billion in overall investments. 

It's a staggering amount of money for a country like Pakistan which has very little foreign revenue, apart, that is, from remittances by its millions of workers toiling away in Middle Eastern countries. 

China rarely forgives debt. It also does not disclose how much money it loans and is secretive about the terms. This has raised the fear of "debt trap diplomacy" and accusations of neocolonialism.

Hearts and Minds 

Pakistanis, however, feel less alarmed. For people living in the remote Northwestern part of the country, the visible progress on the Karakoram Highway is mostly viewed with pride and respect. The prospect of a more reliable and cheaper electricity supply is also much welcomed. Despite the lack of "trickle down" effect of Belt and Road projects in the Pakistani economy, China has been winning hearts and minds with its initiative.

"There might be issues in the future, but for now it works," says Nazir. He is a local guide in Karimabad. China, he insists, is at least not fighting wars on foreign soil or mingling in the internal affairs of other countries like the United States. 

Rehman, a driver from a village near Chitral, is happy that the road is finally getting better, faster, and safer. He also plans to apply for a visa to China and to buy a second hand car from a market on the Chinese side of  the KKH. "It will be fine," he says. 

Aman, a researcher from Islamabad shrugs her shoulders. "Pakistan has always been a weak country and therefore other countries are taking advantages of it," she remarks with some resignation. "There is is not much we can do."

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Author: Agnes Tandler