Pakistan reiterates its CPEC invite to Türkiye

ISTANBUL (AA): Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reiterated Islamabad’s invitation to Türkiye to become part of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Calling CPEC a “roaring success,” Sharif said it is “bound to increase the quantum of business transactions through sea and land between China and Pakistan.”

The Pakistani premier was addressing the launching ceremony of the fourth MILGEM Corvette Ship for the Pakistan Navy in the port city of Karachi.

Sharif said Ankara was a “natural partner” for the economic corridor.

China and Pakistan are celebrating 10 years of the CPEC and have begun its second phase.

Part of China’s multi-national Belt and Road Initiative, the CPEC, since its launch in 2014, has resulted in investment of more than $25 billion in various energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan, allowing the world’s second-largest economy to reach the warm waters of the Arabian Sea via the Gwadar Port in the southwestern Balochistan province.

Last November, after launching the third of the four MILGEM Corvette Ships in Istanbul, Sharif had proposed extending the CPEC by inviting Türkiye to join the project.

“China and Pakistan are great friends and we are experiencing and enjoying the benefits of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative of (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping). I would suggest let this be a cooperation between China, Pakistan, and Türkiye,” Sharif had told a news conference alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling it a “wonderful joint cooperation.”

Sharif also said such cooperation among the three nations “will bring prosperity and progress in this entire region.”

Sharif said he will be “very happy” to talk to his “Chinese friends” about such a move.

China and Pakistan are also considering extending the CPEC into Afghanistan.