Pakistan today said the proposed 3,000-km Sino-Pak economic corridor through PoK would be a "game changer" and could also facilitate trade between India and China.
"The infrastructure projects of the corridor are a game changer in this region by bringing new opportunities to China, Pakistan and Central Asian republics and South Asia," Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, who led the Pakistani delegation at bilateral talks, told state-run CCTV in an interview.
"There can be trade between China and India through the economic corridor," he said without referring to India's concerns over the multi-billion-dollar project as it is being built in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The corridor which includes a 200-km tunnel will link China's volatile Muslim Uygur-majority Xinjiang province which has witnessed a spate of terror attacks in recent times, with Pakistan's Gwadar port providing road access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
India has conveyed its concerns to China which in turn went ahead arguing that it could bring about stability to Pakistan as it provides enormous economic benefits for the country and the region.
Iqbal took part in the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) with Deputy Chairman of National Development and Reforms Commission of China Zhang Xiaoqiang to discuss the infrastructure projects of the corridor as well as other projects between the two countries on the sidelines of Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain's ongoing visit to China.
Consensus has been arrived on all projects discussed at the meeting, Pakistan's state-run APP news agency reported.
The Pakistani President who went to China on his first foreign visit to highlight the close ties between the two countries was ceremonially welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
"Friendship with China is the most important pillar of our foreign policy and security policy," Hussain said.
Xi said that "the Chinese people cherish a profound friendship with the people of Pakistan.
