PM for further strengthening Pakistan-Bangladesh ties

ASSOCIATED PRESS SERVICE



ISLAMABAD : Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said Pakistan and Bangladesh are bound in enduring ties of shared faith, history and culture and both countries need to further strengthen their bilateral relations in all fields. He was talking to Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed, Advisor for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, who called on him here at the Prime Minister Secretariat this afternoon.
The Prime Minister urged the need for enhancing people to people contacts, frequent exchange of business delegations and high level visits from both sides in order to understand each other and help in promoting cooperation in all fields including economic, political, diplomatic, education, defense and security matters.
Dr. Iftikhar conveyed the greetings of the leadership and the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh to the Prime Minister for assuming his office and obtaining unanimous vote of confidence.
He also extended the invitation from the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh to the Prime Minister to visit Bangladesh at his earliest convenience.
Talking about the need for cooperation among South Asian nations the Prime Minister said there is a lot of potential in these countries and they can share the best practices with each other.
Pakistan, he said, considers SAARC an important organization to promote regional cooperation, peace, prosperity and harmony in South Asia, which should be further energized to meet its true potential.
The Advisor for Foreign Affairs said that Bangladesh attaches high priority to its relations with Pakistan since both countries have commonality of views on international and regional issues.
He expressed the hope that Pakistan would soon rejoin the Commonwealth and Bangladesh would support Pakistan in this regard.
The Advisor also underlined the need for further promotion of relations in the fields of trade, economic, shipping, cultural and education.
He said both the countries have strong historical ties and are contributing towards peace and development in South Asia.