http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LL15Df01.html 

Pakistan links up with Kashgar 
 By Syed Fazl-e-Haider KARACHI, Pakistan - 
Dec 15, 2010 

China and Pakistan, which are already working to improve land communications 
across their mutual border, have inaugurated the first air cargo service 
linking Islamabad with Kashgar in China's northwest Xinjiang province, with 
Rayyan Air, a Pakistani charter airline, operating the first 90-minute 
flight. Opening of the Islamabad-Kashgar air cargo route last week came just 
before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Pakistan for the Pakistan-China 
strategic dialogue to be held in Islamabad on December 17. Ahead of Wen's 
visit, Beijing agreed this month to extend cooperation in 36 development 
projects worth US$13.2 billion to boost economic activity in flood-hit areas 
of Pakistan. 
 Kashgar, located near the borders of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Afghanistan and India, is well placed to become an important air logistics 
base. Cargo shipped between China and Pakistan has so far mostly gone by 
truck across a border closed from the end of December to May each year due 
to the severe winter climate. The air cargo service will make products of 
the two countries available the year round and make markets in Central Asian 
states more accessible for Pakistan. It also augments Beijing's efforts to 
develop the western regions of China, including Xinjiang, home to Muslim 
Uyghurs, helped by better communication with projects such as an extension 
of high-speed train services from the eastern part of the country. Kashgar 
was recently given the status of a special economic zone and it is hoped it 
will become a major trade and transport hub, reviving its position as an 
important transit point on the what was the ancient Silk Route between 
China, Central Asia and the Middle East and Europe. Kashgar Deputy 
Commissioner Wang Yongzhi highlighted the importance of reliable 
communication links between Pakistan and China and expressed a desire for 
further expanding such connectivity. "The cargo service operates once a week 
and the frequency will be increased to daily flights, based on freight 
volume," Xinhua news agency reported Wang as saying. Commercial relations 
between Pakistan and China continue to grow and strengthen. This month, the 
Pakistan-China Joint Committee on Economic, Trade Scientific and Technical 
Cooperation (JEC) held its 14th session in Islamabad under the co-chairs of 
Finance Minister Hafiz Shaikh and Gao Hucheng, the China International Trade 
Representative, Ministry of Commerce. The JEC agreed to enhance Chinese 
investment in various sectors of Pakistan's economy including agriculture, 
electricity, finance, mining and infrastructure. The two countries have 
already established a joint investment company with a paid-up capital of 
$200 million for direct investment and joint ventures. The countries in July 
signed memoranda of understanding to build two highways in Pakistan's 
northernmost region of Gilgit-Baltistan. The projects, worth a combined 45 
billion rupees (US$524 million), would be 85% financed by China, with the 
rest paid for by Pakistan. The neighbors also plan a rail link that will 
also connect Torkhum in Pakistan with Jalalabad in Afghanistan. *Syed 
Fazl-e-Haider (http://www.syedfazlehaider.com) is a development analyst in 
Pakistan. He is the author of many books, including The Economic Development 
of Balochistan (2004). He can be contacted at sfazlehaide...@yahoo.com.*