National News

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad
Nawaz Sharif was accorded a red-carpet welcome as he arrived in the
Tajik capital on a two-day official visit Wednesday.
Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda received Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and his delegation at the Dushanbe Airport. Minister
for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif and PM’s Special Assistant
on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi accompanied the Prime Minister.
A red carpet was rolled out for the Prime Minister. Two
children presented bouquets to him and a contingent of static guards
presented him salute. Several arrays of children attired in
colourful traditional dresses lined up at the airport to greet the
visiting dignitary.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Tajikistan Tariq Soomro, Tajik
Ambassador Jononov Sherali and senior government officials were
also present.
The Prime Minister will attend the launching ceremony of the
Central Asia-South Asia 1000 (CASA-1000) project on Thursday.
The CASA-1000 project will import electricity from Tajikistan
and Kyrgyzstan via Afghanistan and is aimed at helping Pakistan get
cheaper and clean energy to minimise its electricity shortage.
The agreements on CASA-1000 have already been signed to
implement the project and the process of laying the transmission
line is underway.
Tajikistan is the world’s third largest producer of
hydroelectric power after the United States and Russia.
Hydroelectric generation accounts for 76 percent of the total energy
output of the country.
The initial plan is to transmit power in the range of 1,000 to
1,300MW from the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan to Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
The major share of the exported energy will be consumed by
Pakistan while approximately 300MW will be used by Afghanistan.