ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with Tajikistan and stressed upon further cooperation in diverse fields.
The president was talking to President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. He said Pakistan and Tajikistan had considerable scope of cooperation in the areas of trade, economy, culture, education and defence which needed to be further strengthened.
The president highlighted Pakistan’s “Vision Central Asia”, which laid strong emphasis on forging deeper links with Central Asian states in trade, investment, energy, security and defence, and people-to-people exchanges.
The president underlined that Pakistan’s main emphasis had shifted from geo-politics to geo-economics and was focusing on optimally utilizing its location in this context.
He underscored that the trade authorities and business communities of the two countries needed to collaborate effectively to enhance the volume of existing bilateral trade.
He also emphasised the importance of the early completion of flagship CASA-1000 Transmission Line Project. He stressed that Central Asia was an area of special focus for Pakistan, especially for regional connectivity and integration. In this context, he stressed the importance of peace and stability in Afghanistan achieved through a negotiated political solution.
The president also briefed the Tajik president about the COVID-19 situation in Pakistan, saying that the successful policy of the government led to containing the disease.
The president expressed the hope that this visit would further strengthen the excellent bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries. He said that it was heartening that both sides adopted a Joint Declaration and had signed a number of Agreements/MoUs after the delegation-level talks.
Both sides reaffirmed the resolve to make coordinated efforts to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan as a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was essential for the materialization of energy and economic projects between the two countries.
President Arif Alvi congratulated the Tajik president on successfully organizing the 9th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process in Dushanbe in March 2021.
He also appreciated that a high-level parliamentary delegation from Tajikistan was participating in the 2nd General Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of Economic Cooperation Organization in Islamabad from 31 May to 03 June 2021.
The president of Tajikistan said that both countries had huge potential for increasing cooperation in the areas of trade, economy and culture. He emphasised the need for improving connectivity between the two countries which would greatly help to improve economic relations between the two countries.
Tajik President thanked the government of Pakistan for extending a warm welcome and hospitality to him and the members of his delegation. He also invited his Pakistani counterpart to visit Tajikistan.
