Islamabad: A delegation of Pakistan Railways officials will soon visit India to gain from the "knowledge and experiences" of the profitable Indian rail system, Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is also ready to offer its road and rail routes to all regional countries, including India, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Central Asian states, he said.
The Pakistan Railways delegation would visit India to learn from the experiences of the Indian system, which had been turned into a profitable entity while Pakistan was yet to achieve this goal due to lack of resources, he said.
Pakistan Railways is also searching for a foreign partner to invest in improving infrastructure.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a regional conference on strengthening transport connectivity, he said the opening of the Khokhrapar-Monabao link for trade with India was being examined.
Opening up trade routes to India was in Pakistan`s favour as nations that buried centuries-old feuds had developed a lot, he said.
"But we are still lagging 200 years behind the developed world. Therefore, we have to shun orthodox thinking to move forward on all fronts," Rafique said.
The government wants to establish a transnational trade corridor and economic zone. It is focussing on national and regional connectivity with China, India, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe and work on Gwadar Port is progressing expeditiously, Rafique said.
