Pakistan said that Saudi Arabia would not be made a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework, adding that the proposed investments would fall “under a separate bilateral arrangement”.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Minister for Planning and Development Khusro Bakhtiar said that “there was no decision to bring Saudi Arabia, under the CPEC framework”.

While talking at a press conference, the minister was responding to a question about the possibility of the kingdom becoming part of the Joint Working Groups (JWGs) or Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on the CPEC.

“There could be many offshoots of the CPEC where third countries could be involved in trilateral arrangements for CPEC, like China-Pakistan-Japan, China-Pakistan-Saudi Arabia or China-Pakistan-Germany,” Fawad said, adding that “Saudi Arabia is not to become a collateral strategic partner in the CPEC. This impression is not true”.