Center of economic power shifting from West to East: Sartaj
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz Monday said the center of economic power was shifting from the West to East and over the years Asia had become a leading player in the emerging world economies.
He was speaking at the seminar on “Dynamics of Geo-Politics, Regional Security and Economic Connectivity” organized here by National Security Division (NSD), in collaboration with the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in Islamabad , which was attended by the ambassadors of Central Asian Republics (CARs) in addition to other dignitaries.
He said the country’s strategic location, once being a liability, was now a bridge between Europe and Asia, according to a press release.
Sartaj said regional connectivity in Asia now lay at the center of the Chinese-led Belt and Road initiative which aimed to connect Asia with Europe and CPEC - a central part of this network - was an all-inclusive economic corridor for the region.
Addressing the seminar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Nasser Khan Janjua said Pakistan by connecting 86% (as 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia; about 10% in Europe and 16% in Africa) of the people of the world was a massive potential trade and industrial hub.
The NSA urged CARs to utilize the huge potential of Balochistan and access sea through Gwadar, which was the world’s largest deep sea port. "Balochistan is our face," he added.
Ali Alizada, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, enunciated that the landscape of the world was changing dramatically and countries were changing their state policies swiftly in the wake of unfolding global crescendos. Peace was the only option to move towards sustainable future, he added.
He said Pakistan had always backed peace and stability in the region and Azerbaijan was grateful to Pakistan for their positive role in that regard.
Giving Turkey’s perspective, Professor Erhan Dogan from Marmara University, Istanbul, said Turkey had some regional calculations and some international. What China, the United States and Russia envisaged their role in other parts of the world definitely had significant impact over Turkey’s equation with the global world, he added.
The Turkish professor said Pakistan and Turkey had common cultural heritage and the people of Turkey had great respect for Pakistan.
Kazakh Ambassador Barlybay Sadykov stated that confidence building measures should be on top of the agenda in order to maintain global security and ensure peace. International terrorism was a common threat and required collective response, he added.
He stated that Afghan peace process must be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, with that all share responsibility to assist Afghan peace process. Geopolitical and geo-economics of the region both offered opportunities and faced threats. Geo-economics could press for the need of cooperation among nations, he added.
Uzbek Ambassador to Pakistan Furqat A Sidiqov said Gwadar was very important for Uzbekistan as the country needed access to warm waters. Furthermore, stability in Afghanistan was pivotal for both CARs and Pakistan for strengthening economic connectivity of the region, he added.
The Kyrgyz Ambassador to Pakistan hoped that the planned railway link from Kashghar in China to Karachi and Gwadar in Pakistan under CPEC, after completion, would connect Pakistan to Kyrgyz Republic through rail network, leading to more economic opportunities.
In the search for optimal solutions to the accumulated problems of the region, Tajik Ambassador Sherali Jononov was of the view that the response to the global and regional challenges required broad dialogue and concerted efforts of the entire international community.
Speaking on the common challenges faced by the region, Lt. Gen (Retd) Asif Yasin stated that good governance alone would lead to internal stability, fight against terrorism and poverty in the region. He also added that Pakistan and Afghanistan had common stakes.
Lt Gen (Retd) Talat Masood, who moderated the seminar, said trans-Afghanistan and trans-Pakistan were the contemporary phenomena that would spell out future relationship between the two. Pakistan’s biggest challenge was to ensure security and security challenges were not solved by military means but development, he added.