Islamabad: Pakistan along with representatives of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and United States have agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity.
The decision was announced on the sidelines of ‘Central and South Asia 2021’ international conference in Tashkent.
“The parties consider long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan critical to regional connectivity and agree that peace and regional connectivity are mutually reinforcing,” Pakistan foreign office said in a statement. The US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs also shared the joint statement on social media.
The four countries aim to unlock the economic potential of the region with the new partnership. “Recognising the historic opportunity to open flourishing interregional trade routes, the parties intend to cooperate to expand trade, build transit links, and strengthen business-to-business ties,” the official statement said. The parties agreed to meet in the coming months to determine the modalities of this cooperation with mutual consensus.
Pakistan is improving trade ties with Central Asian states, connecting the landlocked region through its seaports to boost its geoeconomic status and enhance regional prosperity and development.
During his two-day (July 15-16) visit to Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan’s connectivity with Uzbekistan would open new avenues of prosperity in the region.
“Pakistan has immense potential to connect Central Asia with the rest of the world and become a hub of trade,” he said during his address at the Uzbekistan-Pakistan Business Forum in Tashkent.
