Senate Chairman, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has said that Pakistan values its relationship with the Central Asian countries and further wants to strengthen bilateral ties under its Vision Central Asia policy. He expressed these views while meeting with the Chairman of Mazhilis (Parliament) of Kazakhstan and other members of his delegation. He said that Pakistan was open to providing access to the Central Asian countries for trade and commerce through the ports of Gwadar and Karachi, adding that Pakistan viewed its relationship with Kazakhstan as one of shared interest and respect.

He congratulated the delegation members and the people of Kazakhstan for electing Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the new President of the country and expressed his well-wishes for his successful tenure.He hoped that the new Kazakh President will lead the country to new heights of economic development, prosperity and social transformation. He said that he looked forward to a renewal of bilateral relationship between the two countries under the new leadership.

Sanjrani also extended his felicitations to the people of Kazakhstan for their upcoming independence-day celebrations. He said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan enjoyed 30 years of successful diplomatic relations and that both countries stood together in tough times for the other’s help. He thanked the Kazakh government for extending financial assistance to Pakistan in the wake of the 2022 floods. He hoped that this visit by the Kazakh delegation would further strengthen cooperation between the two brotherly countries and open up new areas for collaboration at multilateral levels.

Emphasizing the role of parliamentary diplomacy, Sadiq Sanjrani observed that parliaments represented the will of the people and frequent exchanges between members of parliament were the best means of bringing people together. He called for increased institutional collaboration and said that Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services was a unique research and capacity-building organization for parliamentarians, adding that it could be an excellent forum for sharing parliamentary experiences and knowledge.

Sanjrani held that there was immense potential for trade and cultural ties between the two countries and that there was urgent need that opportunities should be exploited for mutual benefit. He said, “we need to collaborate in energy, agriculture, information technology, textile, logistics, and housing and construction sectors. We need to further strengthen our defence ties given the security situation in our region.” He added, “travel and tourism should also be promoted for people-to-people contacts through the liberalization of the visa regime.

We also need to cooperate in education, science, and technology to develop our indigenous capacity.” Chairman of Mazhilis (Parliament) of Kazakhstan Koshanov Yerlan Zhakanovich for his part said that Pakistan was a country of consequence and that bilateral cooperation would bring more innovation and diversification in the relations. “It was a pleasure to visit Pakistan and the hospitality was exemplary,” he said. The meeting was also attended by Senators Manzoor Ahmad Kakar, Naseema Ehsan, Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Fida Muhammad Khan; National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Zahid Akram Durrani and Secretary Senate, Muhammad Qasim Samad Khan.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk