China will begin laying the final stretch of a cross-border fiber optic cable in Pakistan that will create the Digital Silk Road, serving the geostrategic interests of both countries. It will connect to a submarine cable in the Arabian Sea to service countries participating in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Europe. Pakistan has accorded approval to Cybernet, a local internet service provider, to construct an Arabian Sea landing station in Karachi. The Hengtong Group, one of China's leading fiber optic and power cable makers, is heading a consortium of telecom companies from Africa, Pakistan and Hong Kong to install the Pakistan East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) cable in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Nikkei Asia reported (January. ) that the 15,000 km long Mediterranean section of the cable, which is already being laid from Egypt to France, is expected to go into service later this year.

(Comment: Observers see this as a strategic move to circumvent international telecommunication consortiums dominated by Western and Indian companies. The cable will give China control over all traffic passing through the submarine cable.)