Chahbahar and Gawadar are sister ports that help promote trade and connectivity: Pakistan

Pakistan on Thursday said Chahbahar and Gawadar are sister ports and complement each other in promoting future trade, transit and connectivity.

Chahbahar, the port in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich nation's southern coast is easily accessible from India's western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan's Gawadar Port, which is being developed with Chinese investment and is located at distance of around 80 kms from Chabahar.

Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal said Chahbahar and Gawadar are sister ports and complement each other in promoting future trade, transit and connectivity.

"Our Minister of Maritime Affairs participated in the inauguration of a part of the Chabahar port. We will continue to work with Iran for deepening connectivity between the two ports," he said.

The spokesman also said Iranian Foreign Minister, who visited Islamabad this week, discussed the idea of Iran's participation in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Faisal said Pakistan wants peace in the region and was against any arms race but it was also not oblivious to the arms buildup in its neighbourhood.

"We are opposed to any arms race in South Asia and have been proposing measures for promoting restraint in both the nuclear and conventional domains. We expect external players to be mindful of the imperative of maintaining strategic stability in the region and refrain from policies that generate imbalances," he said.