Turkmenistan will become the first Central Asian state to sign an agreement on the operation of Pakistan's deep-water port of Gwadar, located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman, a key hub of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, reports Eurasiatoday.ru.
The Pakistani government has announced the formation of a committee to draft the corresponding agreement.
"This decision is part of broader efforts to improve connectivity between South and Central Asia, within which joint projects such as the TAPI pipeline, the construction of railways, and the laying of fiber-optic communication lines are being implemented," highlights the Pakistani publication The Nation.
Arab News notes that Pakistan is in dire need of hard currency. It should be noted that in recent years the country has nearly exhausted its gold and foreign currency reserves.
Now Islamabad is trying to leverage its geographical position to offer Central Asia access to the Indian Ocean.
To transport goods to Pakistan, Turkmenistan needs to send them either through Iran or Afghanistan. It was recently reported that Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have begun construction on the Afghan section of the TAPI pipeline.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
September 17, 2024