Tajikistan assured of early completion of Casa-1000 project

By News Desk

DUSHANBE: Pakistan on Wednesday assured Tajikistan that it will make the utmost efforts to ensure the early completion of Casa-1000 power project, an endeavour that is billed as an effective method for the management of energy and water resources.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, at a joint press conference with his Tajik counterpart Sirajuddin Mehruddin in Dushanbe, said Pakistan believed that Casa-1000 would not only benefit the two countries, but the entire region.

Launched in 2016, the under-construction Central Asia-South Asia (Casa-1000) power project will allow the export of surplus hydroelectricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and finally to Pakistan.

Qureshi said the Casa-1000 project would improve electricity access, integrate and expand markets to increase trade, and find sustainable solutions to water resources management.

He said he was pleased to learn through Foreign Minister Mehruddin that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani “stressed the need for a tripartite transit trade agreement among Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan”.

He said Pakistan, on its part, would pursue the matter of the tripartite agreement with the Afghan leadership for the benefit of three countries. He expressed satisfaction that bilateral relations with Tajikistan had strengthened with time in line with the two joint declarations of 2017 and 2018 to promote cooperation.

He said in a meeting with his Tajik counterpart, it was agreed to renew the spirit of the existing roadmap for bilateral cooperation and also decided to activate joint working groups and the Intergovernmental Commission.

Qureshi invited influential businessmen from both countries to strengthen trade relations and offered to facilitate Tajik investors. He said both Pakistan and Tajikistan had fought the menace of terrorism and expressed satisfaction over defence cooperation.

He expressed pleasure that about 200 Tajik military officers had received military training in Pakistan and offered assistance on more capacity-building defence and diplomatic courses.

Tajik Foreign Minister Sirajuddin Mehruddin terming the meeting with Qureshi a “meaningful dialogue” said it focused on important global and regional issues. He said Pakistan’s commitment to the Casa-1000 energy project was “commendable” and hoped that its completion would further strengthen relations between the two countries.

The two sides discussed economic, security and bilateral cooperation and air links in the fields of infrastructure, technology cooperation and education. The two sides stressed the need to increase bilateral trade volume to enhance trade relations between the two countries.

Earlier during the meeting, Qureshi invited Tajikistan to benefit from Pakistan’s Gwadar port as the shortest trade route to Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa. Qureshi emphasised on tapping the immense trade potential existing between the two countries.

Gwadar and Pakistan’s other seaports could help boost bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Tajikistan, he said. He said Pakistan and Tajikistan enjoyed fraternal relations based on common religious and cultural values.