Pakistan has reportedly approved Russia's request to utilize Gwadar port in Balochistan, which is currently undergoing some development through China's $46 billion CPEC project, state-media revealed on Thursday.

"The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as a flagship project of the One Belt and One Road initiative, has drawn a great deal of investments," an article from the Global Times read.

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However, the article further added that aside from receiving a green signal, Russia also reportedly wants to join the CPEC and merge with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union to gain maximum dividends and establish strategic defense ties with Pakistan, the Indian Express noted.

Although the Russian embassy in Islamabad quickly brushed off such reports, concerns immediately lingered among observers.

The Global Times, on the other hand, pointed that allowing Moscow to join the CPEC is not a terrible idea as such move will become an opportunity for China, Russia, and Pakistan to open more doors for cooperation instead. It further noted that Russia's presence will create a favorable impact to India.

The newspaper said that despite the fact that India has strained relationships with Pakistan and China, Russia has established a good relation with all three countries. Furthermore, Russia's participation will help the international community get rid of the so-called China threat concerns, NDTV reported.

"Russia's participation is not a bad thing... On the contrary, if Russia joins the project, it will be a stakeholder which shares economic risk, especially security risk, and has the same or similar goal," the newspaper said.

Other than Russia, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif revealed that a number of countries have expressed their intents to join the CPEC as half of the world would benefit from the initiative, according to the Times of India.

TagsPakistan, Russia, Gwadar Port, china, CPEC