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Islamabad: Pakistan and China on Friday decided to welcome any third country who joined the China-Pakistan Multi-Miliar Dollar Economic Corridor for “mutually beneficial cooperation”.
The 3rd meeting of the Joint Working Group of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (JWG) on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) was held in virtual fashion and chaired by Foreign Minister Sohail Mahmood and Chinese Foreign Minister Assistant Wu Wu Jianghao , according to a statement by an overseas office.
During the meeting, both parties reviewed the implementation of sustainable CPEC and their expansion to priority fields agreed upon together.
It was noted that as a superior of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), CPEC has violated a new foundation in strengthening international and regional connectivity, especially in the context of its extension to Afghanistan.
As an open and inclusive platform, both parties welcomed third parties who were interested in benefiting the road for mutually beneficial cooperation opened by CPEC,” according to foreign offices.
It was also agreed that the development of CPEC had reached a new point, with an increase in the emphasis on the development of industry, agriculture, IT, and high-quality science and technology, while ensuring the real socio-economic benefits for the community.
Foreign Minister Mahmood underlined the centrality of all-Cuaca-China strategic cooperative partnerships in Pakistan’s foreign policy.
He added that, manifesting the historical choices of the two countries and people, vitality and dynamism of CPEC reflected the reciprocal intentions that are located in the heart of bilateral relations.
“The completion of a timely CPEC project and stable progress in realizing important projects in the pipeline is to provide energy on bilateral cooperation and further strengthen the basis for Pakistani economic modernization and increase capacity for sustainable progress and prosperity,” he said CPEC was launched in 2015 With the aim to increase connectivity in Pakistan and China by building roads, energy projects, and industrial zones in Pakistan.
Initially worth USD 46 billion, these projects were worth USD 62 billion in 2017.
India has protested China over the CPEC because it is being placed through Kashmir occupied by Pakistan.
