Pakistan on Thursday offered Tajikistan access to its warm water ports of Karachi and Gwadar – part of the CPEC – as it reiterated its commitment to revive the cross-border power transmission project.
This happened during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President of Tajikistan Imam Ali Rehman on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council meeting in Samarkand on Thursday.
Shahbaz Sharif was accompanied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and other officials and diplomatic staff.
An official readout of the meeting issued by the Prime Minister’s Office read that the two leaders held wide-ranging discussions covering all aspects of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, including regional and international affairs.
Flood
During the meeting, President Rehman expressed sympathy and condolence over the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan and the loss of precious human lives.
He assured Shahbaz of Tajikistan’s full cooperation in the relief and rehabilitation efforts of the affected people.
Shahbaz thanked Tajikistan for its support and gave details of the devastation caused by the massive floods.
Bilateral Parties
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Rehman expressed satisfaction over the growing political, commercial, economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries.
They stressed the need for a strategic partnership to promote security, mutual trust, counter current global threats and challenges, enhance regional stability, and expand political, trade and economic cooperation.
The two leaders paid special attention to strengthening the reliable and constructive high-level contacts, inter-parliamentary contacts, defense and security ties between the two countries.
Shahbaz Sharif emphasized the importance of regular meetings of bilateral institutional mechanisms.
Energy and trade links
Emphasizing the establishment of mutually beneficial cooperation in the implementation of energy projects, Shahbaz reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the timely completion of the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA) 1000 power transmission project.
The $1.16 billion, 1,300 MW power project was envisioned as a power corridor to provide additional hydropower from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and then to Pakistan.
Ground was broken for the project in 2016 and was expected to be completed by 2023.
Invitation to join CPEC?
Pakistan is pushing to build a cross-country road network with China, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that will make Pakistan’s seaports accessible to landlocked regional friends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized on expanding cooperation in the field of road transportation and stressed the importance of connectivity.
In this regard, he pointed to Pakistan’s readiness to facilitate access to Gwadar and Karachi ports for Tajik traders.
Afghanistan
Shahbaz and Rehman discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest.
They agreed to work together to strengthen peace, stability and security in the region, especially Afghanistan.
The two leaders also agreed to stay in close contact.
Shahbaz Sharif extended an invitation to President Rehman to visit Pakistan, while the latter also graciously responded.
Are Pakistan and Tajikistan neighbors?
Pakistan and Tajikistan are separated by the 16-kilometer-wide Wakhan Corridor – a narrow strip of land in northeastern Afghanistan that stretches into China.
It separates the Gilgit-Baltistan region in northwest Pakistan and the Gurno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan.
