Pakistan keen to seek & establish broad based productive & sustainable ties with central Asian states: Sadiq Sanjrani

ISLAMABAD, Dec 13, (SABAH): Chairman Senate Mir Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has said that Pakistan is keen to seek and establish broad based productive and sustainable ties with central Asian states under “Vision Central Asia Policy”۔ Pakistan also offers to  provide  access to CARS through Karachi and Gawadar ports.

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjari expressed these views while talking to Chairman of Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Koshanov Yerlan Zhakanovich and members of his entourage at the Parliament House on Tuesday. The Chairman Senate further observed that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Kazakhstan and desires to further diversify the already fraternal ties.

During the meeting, he congratulated the Kazakh people and Parliament for trusting the leadership of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and electing him as President. He said that under the leadership of the newly elected President, Kazakhstan will reach new heights of development, prosperity and Pak-Kazakhstan friendship will be strengthened. Chairman Senate extended advance felicitations on the upcoming Independence Day of Kazakhstan.

The Chairman Senate congratulated the two countries on the completion of 30 years of diplomatic relations in February earlier this year and thanked the Government of Kazakhstan for their generous assistance to the flood-affected people of Pakistan. The Chairman Senate overwhelmingly welcomed the delegation and said that both sides share bond of friendship having deep cultural, religious and social similarities. He hoped that this visit will further augment the cooperation and open up new vistas of cooperation at multilateral levels.

Emphasizing the role of the Parliamentary diplomacy, Sadiq Sanjrani observed that parliament represents the will of the people and frequent exchanges between members of parliament are the best means of bringing people together. He called for increased institutional collaboration and said that The Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services is a unique research and capacity building organization for parliamentarians. The institute can prove to be an excellent forum for sharing parliamentary experiences and knowledge. He said that considering the potential of both the countries, there is an urgent need to find new ways to diversify and promote bilateral trade.

Sadiq Sanjrani said that joint projects can be initiated in energy, agriculture, IT, textile, energy, logistics and housing and construction sectors. Both countries have excellent ties at the defense level as well. A liberalized visa policy is the need of the hour to enhance communication between academia of both countries and the public. He said that there are vast opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the fields of tourism, culture and sports. Chairman Senate said that there is a lot of scope to strengthen the educational cooperation between the two countries for the optimum utilization of modern technology.

Chairman of Mazhilis of Parliament of Kazakhstan Koshanov Yerlan Zhakanovich said that Pakistan is an important country in the region and bilateral cooperation will bring more innovation and diversification in the relations. It was a pleasure to visit Pakistan and the hospitality is exemplary, he added.

Senators Manzoor Ahmad Kakar, Naseema Ehsan, Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Fida Muhammad Khan, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Zahid Akram Durrani and Secretary Senate Muhammad Qasim Samad Khan were also present in the meeting.