PM Shehbaz, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon agree to work together for early completion of CASA 1000 project

ASTANA, Oct 13 (SABAH): Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, on the sidelines of the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), on Thursday in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif updated the Tajik President on the rehabilitation work being undertaken by his government in the aftermath of the catastrophic floods in the country. He stressed the need to make joint efforts to cope with the rising danger of climate change induced natural disasters.

President Emomali Rahmon assured him of Tajikistan’s continued support in this regard, including despatch of an additional convoy of trucks carrying essential flood relief items. Prime Minister recalled his meeting with the Tajik President on the sidelines of SCO Summit at Samarkand, last month, and expressed satisfaction over the steadily increasing bilateral engagement in diverse areas. Both the leaders agreed on further increasing high-level contacts, inter-parliamentary ties and technical level meetings to further promote substantive cooperation.

Prime Minister underscored the need to boost cooperation in the energy sector. It was agreed to work together for early completion of CASA 1000 project, which would be a harbinger of future energy corridors with Central Asia. The Prime Minister, while highlighting the importance of promoting connectivity in the region, emphasized upon the expansion of cooperation in the field of road transport and air links. He reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to provide access to Tajikistan to Gwadar and Karachi ports.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest and agreed on the need to work together to strengthen peace, stability and security in the region. Both sides also agreed to strengthen their engagement for fostering greater economic cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, energy and connectivity.

Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb and SAPM on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi were also present on the occasion.