Key Pakistan-China trade route blocked by demonstrators over power outages

Hundreds of protesters angered by power outages have blocked a key highway in northern Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday. The blockade is disrupting bilateral trade with neighbouring China and forcing tourists to take longer routes to visit the region.

The protest initially began with a rally over the weekend and expanded the following day when demonstrators in the city of Aliabad in the Gilgit Baltistan region blocked the main Karakoram highway, said government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq.

He said authorities are in talks with the protesters to persuade them to end the protest.

People in energy-starved Pakistan often face hourslong power cuts, especially during the summer, but residents in Aliabad say they have been experiencing up to 20-hour power outages in the midst of a harsh winter.

The protest comes at a time when Pakistan is hoping to attract greater Chinese investment to revive its ailing economy under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which includes enhancing bilateral trade and building and improving roads and rail systems to link western China’s Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.

CPEC is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative to increase trade by building infrastructure around the world.