Pakistan & the UK had longstanding, historic relations & shared immense political goodwill, while cooperating closely over a wide range of areas: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD, March 20 (SABAH): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif received the British High Commissioner, Jane Marriott, for a courtesy call at the Prime Minister’s House on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister thanked British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron for their messages of felicitations on his re-election and said he looked forward to working closely with the UK leadership to further strengthen relations between the two countries.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan and the UK had longstanding, historic relations and shared immense political goodwill, while cooperating closely over a wide range of areas. He said Pakistan desired to elevate the relationship to the next level emphasizing the importance of early conclusion of the Enhanced Strategic Partnership (ESP) agreement.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the government’s priorities, in particular the importance of navigating through the economic challenges facing the country. In this regard, the Prime Minister underscored the need to enhance bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, climate, people to people contacts, as well as developing convergences on regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest. He called for early resumption of PIA flights between Pakistan and UK, that would help strengthen linkages between the two countries and assuage concerns of the 1.6 million strong Pakistani diaspora in the UK.

He requested the High Commissioner to convey his best wishes to His Majesty King Charles-III and prayed for his early recovery to full health. The Prime Minister also expressed the hope that His Majesty would visit Pakistan, as soon as his health permitted him to travel.