ISLAMABAD: MNA Shahzada Iftikharuddin says that Central Asian countries can best be connected with Pakistan through the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan.
As part of the Afghan Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group that was led by Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao in 2014, Shahzada Iftikhar had met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at Serena Hotel Islamabad where the MNA had requested the Afghan President to allow the National Highway Authority (NHA) to undertake survey of the Wakhan corridor that links (Chitral) Pakistan with Tajkistan.
The Afghan President had given a very positive response to the suggestion of MNA Chitral and had made a commitment that Chitral-Tajikistan route will materialize in his (Ashraf Ghani’s) tenure practical steps towards that end are direly needed. During the recent flight of the prime minister to Chitral after earthquake on 28th Oct 2015, the MNA reminded Nawaz Sharif that before the construction of Karakoram Highway (KKH) linking Gilgit to China in 1970s, Hunza was 30 years behind Chitral in terms of economic development but after completion of KKH, Hunza now stands 30 years ahead of Chitral simply because of good road connectivity.
The prime minister during the Islamabad Peshwar flight onwards to Chitral had resolved that he would make headway on the Chitral Tajikistan Road.