Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Ahsan Iqbal has said that Pakistan believes in the vision of regional connectivity for shared prosperity. He was addressing a conference on 'Pakistan-China-Iran: A Trident of Regional Connectivity' organized by Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI) here on Tuesday. He said Vision-2035 finalized by the leadership of the country has seven pillars and one of them is about the regional connectivity.
He said that Pakistan is at the intersection of South Asia, China and Central and West Asia and it can connect three billion people in one big economic zone. "The age of geopolitics is over and the time has come for Pakistan to focus on geo-economics, while looking for the regional option. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) envisages regional connectivity; therefore, we are looking forward to Iran for developing new infrastructure in the region and beyond," the minister said.
He said that Pakistan and Iran need to learn from China's approach of reaping benefits by creating peace in the region. He suggested that the three countries should create a community of shared prosperity in the region. Earlier, in his opening remarks, Chairman ISSI former ambassador Khalid Mahmood spoke about the goodwill that prevails among the three countries and said that the stage is set for them to achieve new milestones in economy.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing chaired the first session, 'Pakistan-China-Iran: Analyzing the Prospects of Triangular Cooperation.' In his presentation over the session, Lin Minwang, Research Fellow, Fudan University, Shanghai, discussed the possibilities of the trilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Alireza Bikdeli, senior expert at the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), Tehran, emphasized that Iran and Pakistan should try to benefit to the maximum from their neighborhood position, while keeping common development plans away from securitization.
Leading economist Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Principal and Dean, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, suggested a two-pronged approach to cement the trilateral cooperation, facilitating the trident through constructing regional institutions; and providing specific support to the least developed countries in the region.
Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost chairing another session on 'Pakistan-China-Iran: Initiatives for Regional Connectivity' opened the floor on a very positive note that regionalism is the key principle of Iranian foreign policy and it has much more to offer in energy market and transit trade to further this initiative.
Dr Muhammad Jafar Javadi Arjmand, Assistant Professor at the University of Tehran, put forth the idea of synergizing the three formidable forces - regionalism, economic diplomacy and multilateralism - to carry through the idea of the trident. Dr Rong Ying, Vice President China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), Beijing, touched upon the competing visions on the regional initiatives and proposed that the three countries should find the effective means to avert any possibility of confrontation through consensus.
Dr Syed Riffat Hussain, HOD Department of Government and Public Policy, NUST, Pakistan, stressed upon the need for peace in Afghanistan, which is the key to success of CPEC or any other regional initiative. Chairman ISSI Khalid Mahmood chaired the third session 'Challenges to Trilateral Cooperation and The Way Forward.' Dr Hadi Soleimanpour, Head of the Centre for International Research & Education (CIRE), Tehran, stated that China needs to help Iran and Pakistan with an integrated and comprehensive plan.
Dr Wang Yiwei, Director Institute of International Affairs, Renmin University, Beijing, said that shared trinity encompasses shared interest, responsibility and destiny. Javed Husain, former ambassador to Iran, stated that China has a convergence of strategic interest with both Iran and Pakistan thus providing an opportunity for close commercial and economic cooperation for the two countries which are in dire need of foreign investment.
Khalid Mahmood concluded the conference by thanking all the speakers and stated that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and CPEC offer a lot of opportunities for the three countries, but these are contingent upon peace in Afghanistan. He highlighted the role of Chinese commitment to the entire project and emphasized that CPEC is not just an economic venture, but geopolitical considerations must also be taken into account.