Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a "quintessential" connectivity project.

Speaking at the government-sponsored Islamabad Security Dialogue here, Qureshi described CPEC as a hallmark of Pakistan's all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China.

"Besides contributing to Pakistan's economic turnaround, CPEC is poised to contribute to regional prosperity," the foreign minister said.

The main theme of the Islamabad Security Dialogue is "Comprehensive Security Framework" that will enable the country to unfold its untapped potential in becoming a hub of regional development. Pakistan plans to make the dialogue an annual event to parallel the world's leading security dialogues.

"We envision Pakistan emerging as the gateway to landlocked central Asia and Afghanistan. We will endeavor to reap peace dividends in Afghanistan in the form of enhanced connectivity with central Asia," said the Pakistani foreign minister.