Explainer |

Why is Pakistan’s new PM Shehbaz Sharif so keen to accelerate the CPEC with Beijing?

• Sharif played a key role in setting up some infrastructure projects in the CPEC’s initial stages, and resuming work on the scheme will be like a ‘homecoming’, an analyst says
• But as Pakistan eyes expanding the pact to Afghanistan and Iran, there are concerns by the US and India that Beijing may use the CPEC to deepen its military ties with Islamabad, observers say