Pakistan prepares to extend CPEC to Afghanistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that preparations are underway to extend the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan and to revive the Pakistan–China–Afghanistan trilateral framework.

According to Pakistan’s Business Recorder, these remarks were made Thursday during a committee meeting that reviewed Pakistan–China relations, recent regional developments, and Islamabad’s economic diplomacy.

CPEC, implemented with billions of dollars in Chinese investment, is one of the region’s largest transit and economic projects. The corridor, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, links China’s Xinjiang province with the port of Gwadar in southern Pakistan.

In a recent trilateral meeting in Beijing on January 28, 2025, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan agreed to explore the possibility of Afghanistan joining the corridor.

hz/sa