WASHINGTON: Pakistan has invited the United States to invest in projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to achieve its regional peace objectives and ensure a prosperous and peaceful south Asia.

“A number of western countries have shown their interest in projects under CPEC and we want the United States to also make investment in the development schemes,” Pakistan’s Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said.

In his first public appearance at a US think tank, Aizaz Chaudhry displayed his strong diplomatic skills and expertly answered some extremely provocative questions from the Afghan participants at an event at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

He said Pakistan wanted to work with the United States, China and Afghan government to bring lasting peace in the war-torn country as an unstable Afghanistan was creating immense problems for Pakistan.

Chaudry said Islamabad attached extreme importance to its ties with Washington and hoped that relations would improve under the current administration.

He said that perception about Pakistan in Washington needed to change in accordance with the ground realities as the country had made a lot of progress on economic and security fronts.