ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said on Monday Pakistan aims to position itself as a central trade and connectivity hub for China and Central Asia, telling the inaugural Tianshan Forum in Xinjiang that Pakistan’s Gwadar Port could offer the region the fastest maritime access to global markets and drastically reduce transit times for goods.
Iqbal delivered the forum as Pakistan seeks to shift from a traditional geopolitical posture toward a more geoeconomic model, anchored in corridors that connect western China and Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. His remarks come amid a broader push by Beijing to deepen regional integration under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and by the landlocked Central Asian states seeking shorter, more reliable export routes.
The Tianshan Forum, launched this year in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang region, aims to promote cross-border connectivity, logistics harmonization and regional development. For Pakistan, the platform provides an opportunity to highlight the role of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan’s $60 billion flagship of the BRI , and the Gwadar Port in a new Eurasian supply chain stretching from western China to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
