QUETTA, Feb 13: The Balochistan government has proposed the setting up of a consortium of friendly countries for a rail project to link the port of Gwadar with countries of the region.

The proposal was made by Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani who said the consortium should consist of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Afghanistan, China and Iran.

“We are ready to host a conference on ‘Gwadar railway and logistic consortium’ in April this year, either in Islamabad or Gwadar,” Nawab Raisani said.

He said the objective of the conference would be to work out principles, modalities, cost and timeframe of the project.

He expressed the hope that the federal government would help in setting up the consortium.

He said he had written a letter to President Asif Zardari praising the federal government for making the Gwadar port functional.