India will realise CPEC’s importance tomorrow if not today: Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Thursday that India should extend cooperation with South Asian countries.

“The key to cooperation with South Asian countries is held by India and India should review its reaction with regard to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project rather than demonstrating narrow-mindedness. The neighbouring country will realise the importance of this project tomorrow if not today,” he said while talking to the media after addressing a World Bank ceremony.

He said that protest had been lodged with World Bank for not including northern areas in Pakistan. They had assured Pakistan that the mistake would be removed, he added.

He went on to say that CPEC was project of development and prosperity of the region. It would form a market of Rs 3 billion.

He further said that there was a need to forge cooperation in the region and added that the key to the resolution of Pakistan’s problems did not lie in conflicts and disputes.

He underlined that India was at the centre stage of the region and it would remain deprived of development if it did not cooperate in the CPEC project. Therefore it should contribute its share in the development of the region by extending cooperation with South Asian countries, he stressed.