ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said that peace in Afghanistan would pave the way for it to become a trade and energy connectivity corridor in the region and would also accelerate the transit trade between Central Asian countries and Pakistan.

The president said that for this purpose, there is a need to expedite the materialization of the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (CASA-1000) power project, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, and Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan (TAP) projects for economic development and prosperity of this region.

The president expressed these views during a meeting with Pakistan’s Head of Mission, Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday.

The president said that Pakistan and Afghanistan had relations based on commonalities of history, culture and faith which needed to be further strengthened by focusing on enhancing bilateral trade, building greater networks with the Afghan business community, and further streamlining the clearance of consignments at the Border Crossing Points.

During the meeting, the president said that Pakistan could offer online or recorded educational packages of Allama Iqbal Open University and the Virtual University of Pakistan to Afghan students to help male and female students to get a quality education without the need to physically attend the educational institutions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022