ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has invited the leadership of Bahrain to invest in development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as he started his two-day visit to the Gulf state on Wednesday.

Qureshi arrived in Manama to co-chair the second session of the Pakistan-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), the inaugural meeting of which was held in Islamabad in February 2017. His visit to Bahrain would, the foreign office said, “add to the current momentum and positive trajectory of brotherly ties between the two countries.”

While addressing the JMC, Qureshi said CPEC offered opportunities in which Pakistan wanted to cooperate with Bahrain and other Gulf countries.

“There are great business and investment opportunities in Pakistan, especially under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” the foreign minister was quoted by the Pakistani foreign office as saying. “In this regard, we look forward to working closely with the Kingdom of Bahrain and other GCC countries.”

CPEC has seen Beijing pledge over $60 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, central to China’s wider Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop land and sea trade routes in Asia and beyond. The investment plan also aims to link western China to the southern Pakistani port of Gwadar.

Last month, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar were among nations that pledged to support the development of the deep-water seaport.

The foreign office said the JMC meeting would focus on bilateral cooperation in commerce, investment, energy, overseas employment, agriculture, and broadcasting.

Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Bahrain in December 2019 on the invitation of King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and was decorated with Bahrain’s prestigious King Hamad Order of the Renaissance award.