Pakistan a land of opportunities for Central Asian Republics: Tehmina Janjua

APP – Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said here on Wednesday that Pakistan was the land of opportunities for Central Asian Republics (CARs).

She said this while addressing a daylong international conference titled “Pakistan: A Land of Opportunities for Central Asian Republic” organized by National Security Division (NSD) in collaboration with Global and Strategic Studies Institute (GSSI). 

The Foreign Secretary delivered her presentation on “Addressing Geo-Political Challenges to Enhance Regional Integration” highlighting the geo-strategic and geo-political importance of Pakistan in the region.

She said that Pakistan’s foreign policy pursues connectivity, energy, peace and developing people-to-people and cultural contacts among the regional countries.

Tehmina Janjua said that no country was so much adversely affected by the conflict of Afghanistan as Pakistan. She said, “The Afghan conflict has gifted Pakistan with weapons, drugs, and refuges.” Thus the situation has also made the country suffer from smugglers and human traffickers, she added.

The Foreign Secretary urged that regional engagement with regional support and regional solutions to the problems being faced by the region. She said that no military solution is possible to resolve the Afghan conflict.

Janjua said that today the dream of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is closer to reality.  She also lauded the efforts of China for its One Belt, One Road Initiatives (OBORI) and peaceful rise of China and its shared interest in the future and prosperity of the region.

She said that the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI) and the Central Asia-South Asia power project, commonly known by the acronym CASA-1000 are underway.

During the conference, a large number of academicians and policy experts from CARs presented their research papers on various themes of regional integration, economic cooperation, connectivity, socio-cultural exchanges, and security cooperation among the regional countries.