*ISLAMABAD:* Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said on Wednesday thatPakistan was the land of opportunities for Central Asian Republics (CARs).
She said this while addressing a daylong international conference titledPakistan – A Land of Opportunities for Central Asian Republics organised bythe National Security Division in collaboration with Global & StrategicStudies Institute.
The foreign secretary delivered her presentation on AddressingGeo-Political Challenges to Enhance Regional Integration highlighting thegeo-strategic and geo-political importance of Pakistan in the region.
She said that Pakistan’s foreign policy pursues connectivity, energy, peaceand developing people-to-people and cultural contacts among the regionalcountries. Tehmina Janjua said that no country was so much adverselyaffected by the conflict of Afghanistan as Pakistan was.
“The Afghan conflict has gifted Pakistan with weapons, drugs and refuges,”she said.
Thus, the situation has also made the country suffer from smugglers andhuman traffickers, she added.
She said that no military solution was possible to resolve the Afghanconflict. Janjua said that today the dream of China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor was closer to reality. She also lauded the efforts of China forits One Belt, One Road Initiatives and peaceful rise of China and itsshared interest in the future and prosperity of the region.
She said that the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan & India Pipeline aswell as the Central Asia-South Asia power project, commonly known by theacronym CASA 1000 are underway.
During the conference, a large number of academicians and policy expertsfrom CARs presented their research papers on various themes of regionalintegration, economic cooperation, connectivity, socio-cultural exchangesand security cooperation among the regional countries.