All-weather allies China and Pakistan today signed agreements for building an airport at the strategic Gwadar port and extend Karakoram highway as part of efforts to realise their "game changing" Economic Corridor project through PoK brushing aside Indian concerns.
China and Pakistan signed agreements after talks between Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the ornate Great Hall of the People.
Finalising plans to build rail, road and gas pipelines in the proposed Sino-Pakistan Economic Corridor through Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK), 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 corridor 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 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.
Consensus has been arrived on all projects discussed at the meeting, Pakistan's state-run APP news agency reported.
Terming China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through PoK as a "game changer" for the region, Pakistan Minister for Planning, development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, who led the Pakistani delegation at the talks said it could also facilitate trade between India and China.
"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," Iqbal told Chinese state-run CCTV in an interview.
"There can be trade between China and India through economic corridor," he said without referring to India's concerns over the multi-billion dollar project as it is being built in PoK. The project includes a 200 km tunnel.
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.
