ISLAMABAD: All-weather allies Pakistan and China on Wednesday signed agreements for realising the dream of economic corridor. An agreement for building an international airport at the strategic Gwadar port and extending Karakoram Highway up to Islamabad as part of efforts to realize the economic corridor project was also signed. The agreements were signed after talks between Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the ornate Great Hall of the People.
Finalizing plans to build rail, road and gas pipelines in the proposed Sino-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the two countries signed agreements which included second phase of the extension of Karakoram Highway up to Islamabad and building of an international airport at Gwadar connecting the corridor between them. The project includes a 200 km tunnel as well.
The corridor will link China’s Muslim Uygur-majority Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar Port to provide road access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Earlier, the joint cooperation committee (JCC) between the two countries discussed the infrastructure projects like road, rail and gas pipeline projects to be established through the corridor as well as other projects between the two countries on the sidelines of Hussain’s first visit abroad.
Pakistan minister for planning, development and reforms Ahsan Iqbal said, “The infrastructure projects of the (over 2,000 km-long) corridor are a game changer in this region by bringing new opportunities to China, Pakistan and Central Asian republics and South Asia”.
