Development Needs Same Urgency as Security, Pakistani PM Says

Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said development must be treated with the same urgency as security, pointing to ongoing economic initiatives with China and other regional partners, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

"Pakistan is opening new pathways with China through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as well as with the Gulf, Central Asia and beyond," the prime minister said, per APP's report.

CPEC is a long-running infrastructure and investment program between Pakistan and China, launched in 2015 as part of Beijing's broader Belt and Road Initiative. It has included energy projects, transport infrastructure and industrial zones across Pakistan, though the pace of new investment has varied in recent years amid Pakistan's economic challenges.

Sharif's comments frame economic development as a parallel priority to Pakistan's security concerns, which have included counterterrorism operations along its western border and periodic tensions with India. The prime minister did not, according to APP's account, detail specific new initiatives beyond the reference to CPEC and outreach to Gulf and Central Asian states.

Pakistan has in recent years sought to diversify its economic partnerships beyond China, including deeper trade and investment ties with Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.