Pakistan, Kazakhstan reaffirm resolve to enhance regional connectivity, economic ties
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kazakhstan on Tuesday reiterated resolve to deepen political and economic ties, enhance regional connectivity, and maintain close coordination ahead of the forthcoming Kazakh president’s visit in November, the Foreign Office said.
The development comes during a tête-à-tête between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Kazakhstani counterpart Murat Nurtleu, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
The FO said the restricted meeting between foreign ministers of the friendly countries, will be followed by delegation-level talks.
DPM and FM of Kazakhstan Nurtleu arrived in the federal capital on Monday for a two day official visit. He was received at the airport by Additional Secretary West Asia Syed Ali Asad Gillani and other senior officials of the government.
Nurtleu is accompanied by a high-level 13-member delegation, including the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan.
This important visit by the Kazakh FM serves as a precursor to the forthcoming visit of the president of Kazakhstan to Pakistan, scheduled in November this year.
The FO, in a curtain raiser handout, said on September 7 that Nurtleu is also expected to call on President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“The discussions will provide an opportunity to review preparations for the upcoming presidential visit and to deliberate comprehensively on the entire spectrum of Pak-Kazakh bilateral cooperation, with particular focus on trade and investment, agriculture, education, cultural and tourism exchanges, regional connectivity and logistics and collaboration at multilateral fora,” it said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that Pakistan was keen to enhance bilateral trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges and connectivity through air, rail and road with Kazakhstan.
The prime minister, in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, who called on him here, said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan enjoyed strong fraternal relations, and there was a mutual desire on both sides to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across multiple areas of shared interest.
Accompanied by a ministerial delegation, the Kazakh deputy prime minister is on his first two-day official visit to Pakistan.
While welcoming the Kazakh deputy prime minister, Prime Minister Shehbaz conveyed his warm wishes for President Kassym Jomart-Tokayev, whom he had recently met in China.
He indicated that Pakistan was attaching great importance to the visit of the Kazakh President and offered to send a delegation to Astana to finalize the various MoUs and agreements under consideration. The two sides have been in regular discussion over the past several months and are expected to ink key MoUs and agreements during the Kazakh President’s visit later this year.
Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Murat Nurtleu thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz for the warmth and hospitality extended to him and briefed him on his detailed discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar earlier in the day.
He emphasized that the upcoming visit of President Tokayev to Islamabad would be historic and successful, and would open a new and exciting chapter in Pakistan-Kazakhstan ties.
DPM Ishaq Dar and federal ministers for communications, economic affairs, and railways, SAPM Tariq Fatemi and foreign secretary also attended the meeting.
