China-Pakistan Study Centre of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) hosted a seminar titled “CPEC: Strategizing Pakistan’s Narrative on April25, 2019. Speakers at the seminar included: Mr. Amir Jehangir, Founder and CEO of DBTV.live; Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Chairman, Department of Media and Communication Studies International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI); and a discussant, Mr. Jiang Han,Political Counsellor at theEmbassy of People’s Republic of China.
Director China-Pakistan Study Centre, Dr. Talat Shabbir in his introductory note said that during the past five years, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has become a part of Pakistan’s national lexicon. He spoke about the different narratives, both positive and negative, regarding CPEC. He said that pro-CPEC narratives paint it as a ‘game changer’, anchor of peace, prosperity and development not only for Pakistan, but for the region as a whole and win-win cooperation for both Pakistan and China. Anti-CPEC narratives in the national / international media paint CPEC as a neo-imperialist design, thus giving birth to misgivings about this mega- project. Projection of similar storyline in national media reflects the influence of hostile regional, as well as international players. He further said that Pakistan needs to strategize its narrative on CPEC with the aim to project it as an anchor for regional peace and stability.
