FM Qureshi says inclusion of Iran in CPEC to benefit region

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that the inclusion of Iran in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will mutually benefit the entire region.

The acknowledgement from a senior Pakistani official came three days after Tehran dropped New Delhi from the Chabahar rail project.

The foreign minister, in a statement, said that the region can also greatly benefit from the stability and enduring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.

Criticising India, the minister said that the neighbouring country always wanted to isolate Pakistan, however, in a turn of events, it is the one who has been sidelined.

FM Qureshi said that Indian troops were killed, captured and wounded by Chinese forces, and following the clash, the underlying conflict with Nepal and Bangladesh also came to the fore.

The FM said that Pakistan has provided Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav consular access but Indian diplomats did not want to speak with him.

He said the act highlighted the fact that India has subversive intentions and it does not want access to its spy.

Third-time consular access to Jadhav offered

Pakistan on Friday decided for the third time to provide third counsellor access to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, said the country’s Foreign Office.

The spokesperson also shared that Islamabad has informed New Delhi about the decision, adding that Pakistan has also suggested providing the consular access without the presence of security personnel.

“Pakistan is awaiting India’s response,” said the spokesperson of the ministry.

The development comes a day after Pakistan provided the second consular access to Jadhav.

Iran drops India from Chahbahar project

It emerged earlier this week that the Iranian government has decided to go ahead with the rail line project from the Chahbahar port to Zahedan on its own, four years after it inked a deal with New Delhi to begin this project along the border of Afghanistan.

The Iranian government has cited a delay in funding from the Indian side to initiate the 628km-long project as the reason for it dropping India from the multi-million dollar project.

The blow to India comes in the backdrop of China finalising a huge $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran.