Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his counterpart from Tajikistan Okil Okilov met here Wednesday and discussed the ways and means to further strengthen their bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields for mutual benefit.
The two leaders, who met here in the Tajik capital on the sidelines of the 9th SCO Heads of Government Council meeting being hosted by Tajikistan on Thursday, also discussed the situation in the region as well as other matters of regional and international importance.
During the meeting which was held here at Dacha (State Guest House), Prime Minister Gilani was assisted by Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Dushanbe Khalid Usman Kaiser and senior officials.
The two Prime Ministers agreed to further strengthen their existing bilateral relations through increased cooperation in diverse fields including trade and economy, energy, defence, infrastructure, transportation and communication.
Prime Minister Gilani thanked the government of Tajikistan for providing humanitarian assistance in the wake of recent devastating floods.
He said the present democratic government in Pakistan attaches great importance to its bilateral relations with Tajikistan and has given new impetus to its ties with the brotherly country.
“We are keen to further strengthen and deepen our relations and look forward to President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to Pakistan next year,” he maintained.
The Prime Minister said the quadrilateral summit in Socjhi provided an excellent framework for regional cooperation.
He said Pakistan is glad to witness continuous economic progress under the able leadership of President Emomali Rahmon, adding, Tajikistan has a key role in stability and peace in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan is looking forward to an early implementation of the CASA-1000 project.
He said Pakistan-Tajikistan current bilateral trade at $ 6.5 million in 2009 was still far below the actual potential and the two sides to take measure to boost it.
About the cooperation in the area of defence, Gilani said Pakistan wanted to assist its Tajik brothers in developing defence capabilities of its armed forces and provide training facilities at Pakistan’s military institutes.
Prime Minister Okil Okilov said developing relations with Pakistan was one of the main stays of Tajikistan’s foreign policy.
He recalled the visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Tajikistan last year and said it opened a new chapter of bilateral relations and hoped that the MoUs and agreements signed during that visit would be implemented by both sides.The Tajik Prime Minister also called for establishment of Joint Business Forum as agreed in the last Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting to expand the commercial and economic ties.
He offered Pakistani investors to take part in the Small and Medium sized hydro-power projects in Tajikistan and hoped that in addition to seven Pakistani companies presently registered in Tajikistan, more Pakistani investors and business houses will venture into Tajik market.
He welcomed Prime Minister Gilani’s agreement for fast-tracking the CASA-1000 project and hoped that Tajikistan will start the export of electricity to Pakistan with the completion of 220 KV transmission line project.
The Tajik Prime Minister expressed keen interest in his country’s access to the Pakistani sea through Gwadar Port and hoped that the joint concerted efforts of Pakistan and Tajikistan and the agreement of Afghanistan to build the road link between the two countries through Wakhan strip will materialize. He thanked Prime Minister Gilani for Pakistan’s support for Tajikistan’s bid for the membership of WTO.
Prime Minister Gilani extended invitation to the Tajik Prime Minister for official bilateral visit to Pakistan on the occasion of 20th independence anniversary of Tajikistan next year.
On the sidelines of the SCO summit, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his counterpart from Kazakhstan Karim Kazhymkanovich Masimov met here on Wednesday and discussed ways and means to strengthen their bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields for mutual benefit.
They also discussed the prevailing situation in the region, particularly the war against terrorism and militancy, as well as other matters of regional and international importance. Prime Minister Gilani was assisted in the talks by Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Syed Naveed Qamar, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Pakistan’s Ambassador in Dushanbe Khalid Usman Kaiser.
The two Prime Ministers agreed to further strengthen their existing bilateral relations through increased cooperation in diverse fields including trade and economy, energy, infrastructure, transportation and communication.
There was unanimity of views on various matters of bilateral and regional interest including the need of having close cooperation and interaction through the forum of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and beyond to achieve the goals of regional peace, security and development.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan appreciates the extension of SCO’s mandate to include economic cooperation, alongside the cooperation in security related matters.
Prime Minister Gilani also reiterated Pakistan’s desire to have a full membership status in the SCO and sought the support of Kazakhstan, adding, Pakistan wanted to play an active role in the important regional organization for enhanced economic development. The Kazakh Prime Minister assured Prime Minister Gilani of his country’s support to Pakistan in its bid for full membership status in the SCO.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan will continue supporting Kazakhstan’s bid for membership of the World Trade Organization.
The two Prime Ministers discussed in detail the prospects of enhanced bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields through increased private sector interaction and joint ventures.
The Kazakh Prime Minister promised to give due consideration to Pakistan’s request for supporting the country in election as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2012-13 term.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan values close friendly relations with Kazakhstan and wishes to expand and strengthen these ties.
He said the present democratic government in Pakistan has a vision of establishing energy and infrastructure connectivity with the Central Asian Republics.
The Prime Minister said the present government in Pakistan has transformed its relations with Afghanistan, adding, all states, especially neighbours should respect the principles of non-intervention and non-interference.
He said Pakistan supports the Afghan efforts under the Kabul process, adding, the international community must stay engaged and facilitate the efforts of the Afghan government to rebuild state institutions and Afghan national capacity.
The Kazakh Prime Minister said his country was looking forward to PM Gilani’s visit to Kazakhstan in April next year, first highest level contact after a gap of some years, and hoped that it would help revive the cordial relations and cooperation between the two countries.
He further said that Kazakhstan was keen to develop commercial and economic ties and would like to make Pakistan a hub of Kazakhstan’s economic activity, particularly by using the Gwadar port.
The Kazakh Prime Minister agreed that the forthcoming Joint Economic Commission meeting scheduled in December will help prepare appropriate agenda for Prime Minister Gilani’s visit to Kazakhstan next year.
In response to Prime Minister Gilani’s briefing on Afghanistan, the Kazakh Prime Minister said his country was hosting the summit meeting of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on December 4 and Kazakhstan would support Pakistan’s point of view on Afghanistan.
About the recent floods in Pakistan, the Kazakh Prime Minister said the Government of Pakistan was managing the situation very well and wished success in overcoming the devastation caused by the natural calamity.
It was agreed during the meeting that the on-going cooperation in the field of training of Kazakhstan personnel in Pakistan would be further extended.
On Prime Minister Gilani’s proposal of urgent connectivity in the region and successful implementation of quadrilateral agreement for traffic in transit, the Kazakh Prime Minister assured that the technicalities involved would soon be resolved, adding, Kazakh visa to Pakistani businessmen would be facilitated.
The Kazakh Prime Minister appreciated the long political career of Prime Minister Gilani during which he also faced hardships and asked Gilani for a copy of his book. Prime Minister Gilani promised to send a copy.
In response to Prime Minister Gilani’s briefing on the security and economic situation in Pakistan, the Kazakh Prime Minister said the latest World Bank report speaks very high of Pakistan’s economic performance.
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