PM Imran Khan offers Tajik President to use CPEC’s Gwadar Port
PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN AND PRESIDENT OF TAJIKISTAN, H.E EMOMALI RAHMON HOLDING DELEGATION LEVEL TALKS IN ISLAMABAD ON JUNE 02, 2021.
Gwadar Pro
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has offered Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon to use the facility of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Gwadar Seaport.
In a meeting with the visiting Tajik President here, PM Khan informed him about operationalization of Gwadar Seaport and “offered Tajikistan to avail the facility of Pakistani seaports and CPEC,” said an official statement issued by the PM’s office.
The Pakistani Prime Minister highlighted that Pakistani seaports offered the most efficient and economic route to Central Asian countries including Tajikistan.
In these regards the president of Tajikistan offered to convene Joint Working Group to address issues of transit trade at earliest and invite Afghanistan to participate in its meeting to boost trade and commerce with the view to engage broader region in this process.
During the visit, President Rahmon expressed his government’s interest to access the ports of Gwadar and Karachi as the “shortest trade route” to help the landlocked Central Asian state connect with the region. For this purpose, he supported the establishment of a trade corridor, on the lines of the CPEC, passing through Pakistan, said the statement.
Pakistan and Tajikistan entered into 12 accords for cooperation in various fields including trade, anti-corruption, infrastructure, education and culture.
PM Khan and President Rahmon witnessed the signing ceremony as the representatives from the two sides signed the agreements. The two leaders also signed a joint declaration encompassing details of discussions taken during President Rahmon’s visit.
Later, at a joint news conference with PM Khan, President Rahmon stressed “full-fledged cooperation” between Dushanbe and Islamabad to manage energy and water resources and also tapping the potential of the CASA-1000 power project – a regional electricity generation project linking Central Asia and South Asia.
The Tajik President termed Pakistan a “reliable and trustworthy partner” of Tajikistan at the international stage, where the two countries had a similarity of agenda to pursue mutually beneficial cooperation.
He mentioned that his talks with Prime Minister Khan focused on inter-governmental cooperation in fields of economy, parliaments, energy, agriculture, healthcare and the Covid-19 situation.
Prime Minister Imran Khan mentioned the discussions held with President Rahmon in the domains of trade, defence, climate change and common challenges including the post-US withdrawal situation in Afghanistan.
Imran Khan expressed confidence that the signed agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) would lead to a stronger relationship between the two countries.
Imran Khan also lauded Tajikistan for declaring 2025 as the “Year of Preservation of Glaciers”, saying: “Pakistan will fully back the initiative as it faced fast melting of its glaciers – the main resource of clean water.”
