The Karot hydropower project is a manifestation of the clean and green vision of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which will improve Pakistan's access to clean, low-cost and sustainable energy, Pakistani foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Addressing a weekly media briefing in Islamabad, the foreign ministry's spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad congratulated the relevant enterprises on successfully closing the gates of the diversion tunnels and starting the reservoir impoundment of this project recently.

Ahmad said that China and Pakistan are committed to a clean and green vision of CPEC, adding that this development is a "milestone" achievement in this regard despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative, CPEC is an embodiment of win-win cooperation under the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with the underlying principles of wide-ranging consultations, joint contributions and shared benefits, entering a stage of high-quality development."

Invested by the China Three Gorges Corporation with a total of about 1.74 billion U.S. dollars, the Karot hydropower project under CPEC in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province is the fourth level of the five cascade hydropower stations planned for the Jhelum River.