Officials from the UAE and Pakistan have opened the Emirates-funded US$38million Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Road in the South Waziristan area of Pakistan.
The UAE ambassador to Pakistan, Eisa Al Nuaimi, and director of the UAE Assistance Programme to Pakistan, Abdullah Al Ghafli, inaugurated the road on Friday. It was built on the directives of the President, Sheikh Khalifa.
The opening ceremony was attended by local ministers in the region, senior Pakistani army officers, tribal chiefs, citizens and programme members, the state news agency Wam reported.
Mr Al Ghafli said UAE-Pakistan relations were characterised by a "spirit of solidarity, fraternity and mutual respect", adding the inauguration of the road reflected a "long history of solidarity and cohesion between the UAE leaders and people with Pakistan".
He said the road was among the initiatives and efforts of the President to provide developmental assistance to the Pakistani people.
Mr Al Ghafli said the road connected Pakistan and Afghanistan with central Asian countries, and that it would ease trade for local people. It shortens the distance between Karachi and Kabul by 400 kilometres.
He noted the continuous support to the programme by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
The Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Humanitarian Foundation played a pivotal role in financing the roads and bridges being built. It funded the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Bridge on Swat River, which opened last year.
Mr Al Ghafli said the foundation gave $60.9m (Dh223.6m) for the road and bridge projects. Gen Pervez Kayani, Pakistan's army chief of staff, praised the UAE's efforts, saying the road would greatly benefit the people of South Waziristan.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
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