Xinjiang plays a strategic role in tightening the relationship between China and Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari said in an interview in Urumqi. “The region is the closest point to my border and it is where the future of Pakistan and China meets, so we are hoping that the region could act as the linking point of a communication network as well as a road and railway network between the two countries,” President Zardari exclaimed during an exclusive interview with China Daily on the sidelines of the first China-Eurasia Expo.
The Expo is taking place in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, from Sept 1 to 5. It is President Zardari’s first visit to Xinjiang and he said he “always wanted to see this part of China”, which was the most important region on the old Silk Road connecting Asia and Europe. “Now Xinjiang will once again become the trading point,” he said. In a speech at the expo on Thursday morning, Zardari said Pakistan already has a highway leading to Xinjiang, while a cross-border railway is on the agenda. Through such efforts, Pakistan is to become the gateway for China to enter South Asia, he said adding “The Silk Road will be fully revived.”
