Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday said that Pakistan wanted the establishment of energy, rail, and road connectivity with the diverse energy resources-rich Central Asian Republics (CARs) for the development and prosperity of the entire region.
During a joint press conference with Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, the premier said Pakistan desired early completion of the Central Asia-South Asia (CASA-1000) power project to meet its energy needs.
He said Pakistan was the first country that established ties with Tajikistan some 31 years back. Since then both countries had been enjoying excellent cordial and friendly ties. Pakistan wanted to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation and ties in all fields including energy, trade, and joint ventures in agriculture and food, he added.
The premier said Pakistan attached immense importance to its bilateral ties with Tajikistan as it was a gateway to the CARs. He informed that they held very productive meetings to further strengthen the bilateral relations and promote trade, investment, and culture between the people of two brotherly nations.
He expressed the hope that the Tajik President’s visit to Pakistan would usher in a new era of cooperation and development between the two countries.
President Rahmon, reciprocating the warm feelings for the government and people of Pakistan, said that his country attached high priority to its ties with Pakistan. He said both countries had been making joint efforts to further promote the friendly ties and expressed the optimism that the MoUs signed between the two countries would give new impetus to these relations.
He said during their delegation-level deliberations, they had discussed government-to-government level contacts, security, economic situation, global economic decay, energy and connectivity activities, and linking of the port city of Karachi.
He said they also had a useful exchange of views on CASA-1000, cooperation in agriculture, energy connectivity, joint ventures in food technology, trade, science and technology, and cooperation between the business communities of the two countries.
Earlier, the Tajik President and the prime minister witnessed the inking of a number of MoUs and agreements to boost bilateral cooperation in diverse fields.
