A national Seminar on “Gawadar- Kashghar Corridor:  Hopes and Apprehensions” was  jointly organized by  Pakistan Study Centre University of Peshawar and Chitral Association for Education and Health.

Scholars from Islamabad, Chitral and Peshawar read out their papers. Those spoke on the occasion were: Dr. Fakhr-ul-Islam, Dr. Abdul Mateen, Prof Israruddin, , Inayatullah Aseer and Bahar Ahmad while Deputy GM PTV Islamabad Mr. Habibur presided over. Dr. Fakhr-ul-Islam, Director, Pakistan Study Centre University of Peshawar, highlighted importance  of the northern areas.  He said In that Pakistanis are cursed by their geography, rather than having its blessings. He demanded that the project should not fall prey to political differences.  

Dr. Abdul Mateen , ex-Vice Chancellor University of Peshawar said that Gawadar- Kashghar Corridor will usher a new era in the socio economic development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that Pakistan should proceed as per psyche of Chinese who are very intelligent and faithful nation. He said Pakistan needs to plan intelligently for accumulating blessings of the project. Prof Israruddin gave an historical perspective of trade routes that passed through northern areas of Pakistan connecting them with China and Central Asia. Technical expert Mr. Inayatullah Aseer while giving presentation opined that if the route passes through Kashghar, Hazara, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Quetta and  Gawadar, it will be 4000 Kilometers long. He said, besides being long, it will pass through already developed areas. He proposed an alternative route passing from Kasghar to Hazara, southern districts of KPK, Quetta and Gawadar. He said it will be only 2000 Kilometers long.

He also proposed to link Chitral with the route which will further connect Pakistan with Tajikistan and other Central Asian states. He said that it will be in the interest of Pakistan that this route should be short and beneficial for less developed areas. At the end a resolution was passed which called for early commission of the project and arriving at a national consensus on exact location and route of the corridor.