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PR No. 340 Advisor to Prime Minister for Information Technology Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa has said the existing close multifaceted relationship between Pakistan and China is being translated into deeper trade and economic relations. The Advisor to Prime Minister expressed these views while talking to Chairman China Mobile Communication Corporation (CMCC) Wang Jianzhou who called on him here on Wednesday. He said Pakistan and China have brotherly relations and people to people contacts have strengthened relations between both the nations, which will further grow with the passage of time. The Chairman informed the advisor that China Mobile has become the only off shore company operating in Pakistan which has invested more than US $ 721 million of FDI so far in the current year. “It is just the beginning as China Mobile will invest more in Pakistan in the years to come as the company has more future investment plans”, the chairman added. The Chairman said this is, by all means, a major investment by a single company in a short span of time and augurs well for further expansion and healthy competition in the cellular sector that has demonstrated phenomenal growth during the last few years. Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa said the entry of Chinese company would surely help improve quality of service and offer variety of products at affordable costs to the consumers besides creation of employment opportunities in the length and breadth of the country. He assured the Chinese delegation to extend all out possible help in checking the difficulties the CMCC is facing and asked it to feel at home in Pakistan.
PR No. 341 Ambassador of Sweden H. E. Mrs. Ulrika Sundberg, called on the Federal Minister for Special Initiatives Mr. Lal Muhammad Khan in his office today. Secretary of the Ministry Mr. Abdul Shafiq, and Additional Secretary Mr. Liaquat Ali, was also present in the meeting. The ambassador discussed with the Minister prospects of Clean Drinking water project in the country. The Minister expressed that the project was a success, as public at large are taking benefit from it. Shortage of Clean drinking water was an acute problem particularly for the far flung areas of the country, which has been controlled to a larger extent, the Minister added. They also discussed the situation in Malakand division. The Minister expressed that with support from international community and sacrifices offered by our forces and general public of the area, the problem of extremism would be under control very soon. **Sh/Ahmad**
PR No. 342 The Government of Japan, today, extended a soft loan of ¥23.3 billion (approximately 260 million US dollar) to the Government of Pakistan for the National Transmission Lines and Grid Stations Strengthening Project. The notes were signed and exchanged between Mr. Chihiro Atsumi, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan and Mr. Sibtain Fazal Halim, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Government of Pakistan, in Islamabad, this morning. After the exchange of notes the Loan Agreement was signed by Mr. Hassan Nawaz Tarar, Additional Secretary, EAD and Mr. Tomoharu Otake, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The Project has been prepared by the National Transmission and Despatch Company Ltd at an estimated cost of Rs. 29.339 billion. Speaking on this occasion, Secretary EAD said that the objective of this project is to improve the reliability and efficiency of power supply by constructing new while upgrading existing prioritized 500 KV and 220 KV transmission lines and grid stations in Punjab and Sindh provinces. The project will contribute to economic development and improvement of standards of living of local residents in the concerned area. It includes enhancement in the transmission system by (i) 220 KV Chishtian sub-station (ii) 220 KV Gujrat sub-station (iii) 500 KV Lahore sub-station and (iv) 500 KV Shikarpur sub-station, he added. Mr. Sibtain Fazal Halim said that Pakistan has not only been experiencing electricity shortage but also faced with a weak transmission lines system because of which supply of power disrupts frequently. He thanked the government of Japan for providing this loan at a convenient rate of interest of 1.2% per annum to be repaid within 30 years, including 10 years of grace period. On this occasion the Ambassador of Japan said that after the completion of this project, the efficiency of the power transmission will be improved by 156 MW, which is equivalent to the annual power consumption of two million people in Pakistan. This assistance by the Government of Japan is expected to reduce the power loss and improve the power accessibility of the people in the areas. So far, Japan has implemented a total of 17 soft loan projects in the energy sector, out of the 79 soft loans provided to Pakistan and particular emphasis is being placed on enhancing supply lines and grid stations, he said. The Ambassador said that Japan is fully committed to supporting Pakistan in its endeavors to fight against terrorism and, at the same time, to create a strong and sustainable economic foundation. In this regard, the Government of Japan pledged one billion dollars to Pakistan over a two-year period at the Tokyo Donor’s Conference last year. To this date, Japan has been steadily delivering its pledge at approximately 452 million dollars including this project, he mentioned. Ambassador Atsumi stated that he is convinced that this assistance will prove vital in supporting the efforts of the Government of Pakistan and will further strengthen the existing good relationship between Japan and Pakistan. Expressing his views, Mr. Otake Tomoharu said this is the first Japanese ODA loan project based on the Pakistan Donors Conference hosted by Japan in April, 2009, where a maximum of $1 billion in aid was pledged over the next two years. He said providing reliable and efficient power supply will improve the serious power shortage and contribute to economic development in the concerned areas. The loan funds will be allocated to the civil works and equipment procurement costs related to the new construction and expansion of substations and related transmission lines. The operations and maintenance of the newly constructed and expanded substations and related transmission lines in this project will be implemented by employees trained at the training institution that will be strengthened under JICA technical cooperation, he added. **Daniyal.G/Ah**
PR No. 343 Federal Minister for Food & Agriculture, Nazar Muhammad Gondal has said that Pakistan is blessed with a lot of natural potentials in the field of agriculture and needs Turkey’s assistance to further achieve self-sufficiency in food items. The federal minister urged it while speaking to his Turkish counterpart, Mehmet Mehdi EKER, here at Islamabad. “There are tremendous possibilities of increased collaboration between the investors of the two brotherly countries, and development of Pakistan’s agribusiness and value addition sector with Turkish technical and financial resources. Pakistan offers tremendous opportunities to Turkish businessmen to invest in Pakistan’s agriculture production, processing and value addition’, said that minister. The areas identified for Turkish’s assistance include establishment of Olive Oil Units, investment by Turkish Seed Companies, Establishment of Modern Cool Chain Infrastructure, Grain Storage, and Food Processing Industry. The Turkish minister of Agriculture & Rural Affairs said that Pakistan ahs a great potential in the field of agriculture and his country is ready to help and assist in all the possible ways. “We would like to take this opportunity for enhancement of trade and take concrete steps for increasing collaboration between the two brotherly countries. The MoU that we are going to sign today will ensure increased cooperation between the two countries ”, said the Turkish minister. Mr.Gondal said that Pakistan would like to benefit from the expertise of Turkey in developing High Efficiency Irrigation System through technology transfer from Turkey. He added that Pakistan has developed Integrated Pest Management (IPM) models for various crops like sugarcane, rice, cotton, guava, citrus, mango, etc and would be pleased to share these with Turkey. A Joint Working Group was constituted to explore and enhance the cooperation in Agriculture between the two countries.
PR No. 344 President Asif Ali Zardari today said that the public-private partnership model of development adopted by Pakistan could open new horizon of cooperation between Pakistan and Turkey and lend greater depth and substance to the existing cordial ties between the two countries and transform it into a strategic partnership. He said this during meeting with the Turkish President Mr. Abdullah Gul in Aiwan-e-Sadr today. The one-on-one meeting between the two Presidents was followed by delegation level formal talks which were attended on the Pakistan side by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Mr. Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Minister for Food & Agriculture, Mr. Rehman A. Malik, Interior Minister, Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Minister for Railways, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Finance Advisor besides other senior officials. On Turkish side Prof. Mehmet Aydin, Minister of State, Prof. recap Akdag, Minister for Health, Mr. M. Mehdi Eker, Minister for Agri & Rural Affairs were present besides Turkish Ambassador Mr. Babar Hizlan, members of the Parliament and other senior officials. Briefing the media about the meeting Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that during talks President Asif Ali Zardari emphasized the need for upgrading communication links to further boost trade, commerce and people to people contacts. He said that the existing rail link needed to be upgraded so as to cut the travel time between the two countries. President Asif Ali Zardari said that if the existing rail link was upgraded, it could open up and connect vast European and Asian markets to the benefit of not only Pakistan and Turkey but also of all people in the region. President Zardari suggested that the train may be named after the Turkish President as ‘Gul Train’. He said the proposed 6500 km Islamabad-Istanbul rail link would vastly improve regional connectivity. It may be mentioned that as per decision taken during ECO Ministerial meeting in Tehran in March last year, the demonstration run of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul container train was launched on August 14 last year. During President Zardari January visit to Istanbul, the Turkish railway authorities also gave a detailed briefing on the prospects of Islamabad-Istanbul container train. Turkey also offered to assist Pakistan in upgrading its railway network to facilitate operationalization of the Islamabad-Istanbul container train. Mr. Babar said that the two Presidents also witnessed the signing of three bilateral agreements between the two countries in the Presidency at the conclusion of the delegation level talks. The bilateral agreements signed today pertained to MoU for collaboration in the fields of Agro-based industries, MoU between the Board of Investment of GOP and Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT) and MoU on cooperation in Planning between the Government of Pakistan and Government of the Republic of Turkey. Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration in the fields of Agro-based industries seeks to strengthen cooperation in the filed of agro-based industry on the basis of mutual benefit and to achieve higher levels of efficiency in production, processing and marketing of Agro-based industry components. The MoU also seeks to promote and encourage the private sectors to establish sole propriety enterprises as well as joint ventures including industrial units in the export processing zones outside urban areas, other agreed locations and in the rural areas at existing clusters in Pakistan and encourage investment in the areas such as fruit, food, vegetables and flower products processing units, dairy industries, poultry farming/production, cold storage industries and commercial production of seeds and nurseries for fruits, vegetables, flowers and tubers etc. MoU between the Board of Investment of GOP and Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT) has been signed for the purpose of strengthening collaboration between the two countries for enhancing and strengthening investment cooperation. BOI and ISPAT agreed to collaborate in promotion of productive and commercial cooperation, support of enterprises in implementing common projects and transfer of know-how. MoU on Planning seeks to strengthen mutual cooperation by means of exchange of information, research and planning studies and institutional capacity building. Both the countries through this MoU agreed to benefit, to the extent possible, from the expertise of each other in national and regional planning, strategic planning, economic models and activities, international and interregional cooperation, preparation and evaluation of the development plans and their annual programs, sustainable development and e-Government. After the signing ceremony the two Presidents walked up to a press stakeout in which the two President read out their respective statements. Following are the remarks of President Asif Ali Zardari during the press stakeout. We are very pleased to welcome President Abdulla Gul to Pakistan. We had an excellent exchange of views today. There was unanimity of views on all matters of mutual interest and concern. In our meeting today, we reviewed with the entire range of our bilateral relations. We are satisfied with it. We also signed three MoUs for collaboration in Agro based industries, promoting commercial cooperation and transfer of know how and cooperation in planning between the two countries. We have decided to upgrade our strategic partnership and step up political and economic cooperation. We have resolved to boost our relations in the areas of Economy, Trade and Investment and Industry, Agriculture, Infrastructure development, Culture and Education, Defence and People-to-people contacts. We have decided to pay special attention to trade relations. A huge potential exists between our two economies. The private sector plays a pivotal role in trade enhancement and economic development. Pakistan has already launched public-private partnership. The two countries can benefit from it. We had launched the Pak-Turk CEO’s Forum during the visit of the Turkish Prime Minister to Pakistan last October. And we had decided to hold the Forum on the sidelines of leadership level visits in the future. In line with this commitment, the second edition of the CEO Forum is being held in Islamabad this afternoon and in Lahore tomorrow. We are confident that the Forum will harness the potential of private sector entrepreneurship. Both, President Gul and I, condemn terrorism and extremism. We reiterated our resolve to jointly defeat militancy that continues to claim scores of innocent lives in Pakistan and Turkey. I briefed President Gul on Pakistan’s comprehensive campaign against extremism and militancy. I shared with him that we were able to evolve consensus across the board to defeat terrorism. In the fight against terrorism and militancy, the Government enjoyed the full support of the people. The remarkable successes of the military operations in Swat, Malakand and South Waziristan are a result of national unity and immense sacrifices of the people and brave soldiers of Pakistan. President Gul and I hold identical views on Afghanistan. We will continue to lend our sincere support to Afghanistan’s national efforts to achieve durable peace, prosperity and sustainable development. In conclusion, I would say that we greatly value our strategic partnership with Turkey which is rooted in our shared interests and common concerns. We have convergence of perceptions on regional and global issues. I am grateful to President Gul for his commitment to further strengthen our special relationship. I assure him of our steadfast support in achieving this objective. Earlier, on arrival Turkish President Abdullah Gul was warmly received by President Asif Ali Zardari in the Presidency. National Anthems of both the countries were played. Turkish President Abdullah Gul inspected tri-services Guard of Honour, presented by a smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan armed forces. Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was also present on the occasion.
PR No. 345 US Congressional delegation headed by Mr. David Price met with the Chairman Senate, Mr. Farooq H. Naek and Members of the Upper House of the Parliament at the Parliament House here today and discussed wide range of issues. During the meeting the Chairman Senate said we highly value our relations with the United States, which are based on mutual trust and principles. He underscored the need for closer cooperation and interaction between the US Congress and the Senate of Pakistan for achieving mutually shared goals and objectives. He especially called for US Congress assistance in sharpening developing the skills of legislators under the aegis of the Pakistan Institutes of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) to further enhance and strengthen the role of Parliamentary Committees in legislation, oversight of the executive and ensuring good governance. The Chairman also highlighted the sacrifices made by the country in global war on terror adding that it is paying a heavy price but the commitment to combat terrorism to its very end remains firm and strong. He said nearly 9300 troops besides 20000 civilians have lost their lives in the struggle. He further observed that investors have shied away from Pakistan and the country suffered heavy infrastructural losses in addition to massive internal displacement of civilian population. Chairman as well as members of the Upper House of the Parliament strongly urged the US to do away with humiliating procedures of special screening of the Pakistani National at the American Airports saying that they are badly hurting the Pak - US relations. They have also called upon the US to help Pakistan in energy, science & technology, education, economy and trade sectors by lifting textile quota restrictions and increasing volume of trade between the two countries They also termed special screening and drone attacks as major irritants in Pakistan and US relations and urged US to remove these irritants. They said that building institutional linkages and connectivity between the US Congress and the Pakistani Parliament would help a great deal in achieving our shared goals and objectives. They also called for early commissioning of ROZs as they are much needed to provide jobs people in tribal areas. They also highlighted the significance of a stable, strong and self reliant Pakistan for peace and stability in the region and the world and asked for facilitation of negotiations by US to resolve the water shortages and Kashmir problems with India. The US Congressional delegation commended the country’s commitment to combat terror and lauded Pakistani nation for great sacrifices it made in this war and assured that it would do its utmost to forge even closer Parliamentary cooperation and to help promote a better understanding of each other’s point of view especially in removing the irritants and to address the concerns of the country in a just and fair manner. The Rep. Stephen Lynch of the Sub-Committee on National Security & Foreign Affairs apologized for the screening of Pakistani Parliamentarians in US. The members of the delegation also expressed their satisfaction over the successful strategic dialogue between US and Pakistan and hoped that these will bring concrete results. Mr. David Price, Chairman, House Democracy Partnership (HDP) assured the meeting that the cooperation between the Parliaments of the two countries will be strengthened further by sharing best practices and capacity building of the parliamentarians through mutual interactions. He also assured that US was in a process of evolving a more none intrusive and none discriminatory security regime. The Deputy Chairman Senate, Mr. Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Leader of the House in the Senate, Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Mr. Wasim Sajjad and Senators Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, Haji Ghulam Ali, Gul Muhammad Lot, Mrs. Seemen Siddiqui and Ms. Sughra Imam were also present on the occasion besides Secretary Senate, Raja Muhammad Amin and Additional Secretary, Amjad Pervaiz. **RAQ/Ahmad**
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No. 346 Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani has said that the Ministry had submitted the PC-1’s of 19 different industrial developmental projects for Balochistan to Planning Commission (PC) for approval by the competent forums which are still lying pending with them. These projects were to be processed through CDWP/ECNEC. We have been pursuing the Planning Commission and requesting them for early approval of these projects, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani told to Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani, Chief Minister of Balochistan who called on him here today to know about the status of aforesaid projects proposed by the Ministry of Industries and Production. The Minister assured the Chief Minister that Federal Government gives top priority to Balochistan from every aspect. All the PC-1’s of proposed projects were submitted to Planning Commission well in time for approval. So my Ministry is constantly in touch with Planning Commission in this regard and requested PC for early approval. However the Minister while showing concern over the slow process by PC has said that last quarter of current financial year has started therefore Planning Commission must streamline the approval of the proposed PC-1’s, the Minister added. **MAB/Ahmad**
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Muhammad Azam Swati has said that the Ministry of Science and Technology is working on the national agenda of integrating the soft technology infrastructure into hard modern technological base strengthen technology institutions, effective governance and enhance the capacity if indigenous innovation systems. He said this while talking to Prof. Mehmet Aydin, Minister-in-Charge for Science and Technology and Co-Chairman of Joint Economic Committee of Turkey who called on him here today. The Minister said that Pakistan and Turkey are brotherly Muslim countries and will always work together for enhancing technological competence in the new century and to provide a sustainable base which would lead to the socio-economic development of both the countries. The Turkish Minister-in-Charge S&T also emphasized the need for enhancing cooperation between the two countries and to further strengthen the existing bilateral relations between the two countries. AJ/wh
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No. 348 Turkish Minister for Science and Technology H.E Mehmet Aydine met with the Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim in a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of Turkish President visit to Pakistan, here in a local hotel in Islamabad. Secretary Commerce Zafar Mahmood, Senior Joint Secretary of Foreign Trade and other officials of the Ministry also attended the meeting. The Federal Minister welcomed the delegation in Pakistan and expressed that he feels great satisfaction over Pak-Turkey excellent traditional relations which are further strengthened by their mutual understanding on wide range of regional and international issues. Mehmet Aydine expressed that bilateral relations should be developed at institutional level. There could be a lot more areas where relations could be improved. However, what we need today is to explore immediate areas for improving relations. Pakistan has great opportunity for investment in the sectors like energy, Power, Oil & Gas and value added industry like textile, the Commerce Minister underlined. Both the leaders also reviewed the progress on Pak-Turkey Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC). The last meeting of JMC was held in Islamabad in October, last year. Makhdoom Amin Fahim stated that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Turkey, and the bilateral trade with Turkey which has grown to around 600 million dollars in the recent years does not reflect the true potential that exists between the two countries. Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Mehmet Aydin also agreed to mutually exchange of trade delegations between the two countries, which will explore the potential areas in trade and investment. The Commerce Minister accepted the invitation to himself lead the traders’ delegation to Turkey. SH/wh
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No. 349 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani while expressing his satisfaction with across the board deepening of Pakistan-Turkey bilateral ties has underlined the need of translating the existing goodwill and broadening the cooperation in the trade and economic sectors. He, in this regard, identified enhancement of bilateral trade, up-gradation of Pakistan-Iran-Turkey railway track, road links, joint production, and manufacturing of military hardware by the two countries. The Prime Minister express these views during talks with the Turkish President Dr. Abdullah Gul and his delegation who met him at Prime Minister House this afternoon. The Prime Minister appreciated the fact that President of Turkey who being accompanied by a strong businessmen delegation would be able to gain from the proposals of the CEOs Forum in Islamabad. He said that both sides should keep encouraging their private sectors to become engine of growth in economic and commercial relations and hoped that the CEOs forums would make progress in key sector such as infrastructure, engineering, textile, energy, agriculture, telecommunication, mining, and technology ventures. Prime Minister also called for enhanced cooperation in the fields of science and technology, education, culture through promotion of linkages between the institutions of higher learning of two countries. He expressed the government’s strong desire for benefiting from Turkish experiences in carrying out Madrassah Reforms. Prime Minister appreciated Turkey’s lead role in friends of democratic Pakistan forum and hoped that with the establishment of Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA) office in Islamabad, would extend scope to mutual benefit. Turkish President Dr. Abdullah Gul expressed his profound gratitude on the warm hospitality accorded to him and to his delegation and termed Pakistan as his second home. He appreciated Prime Minister’s role in building national consensus on important political issues and strengthening the democratic institutions in the country. He assured the Prime Minister that he would like the rail link between Pakistan and turkey to start operation by next August. He said that Turkey would help Pakistan in upgrading its existing railway track linking Quetta with Iran. Dilating upon OIC’s Standing Committee on Economic Cooperation he called for Pakistan and Turkey to proceed with (COMSEC) decisions even if, OIC’s members countries still remained indecisive in their implementation. President Abdullah Gul said that role of the governments is to pave the way for the private sectors to undertake infrastructure projects and that was why he had brought along a large high level Turkish entrepreneur delegation. He said Turkey will help Pakistan in overcoming the power shortages by setting up a floating power plants at Karachi shore to provide 200 MW of electricity. He also offered Turkish assistance to Pakistan in building small dams on Pakistani canals and streams for the hydel power generation which Turkey itself had undertaken on the large scale basis in the past. President Dr. Abdullah Gul also agreed with the Prime Minister over joint projects in defence production fields and he assured the Prime Minister of bilateral cooperation by way of supporting each others candidatures in the international Forum. The Prime Minister also hosted lunch in the honour of Turkish President which was attended by Speaker, National Assembly, Dr. Fahmida Mirza, Chairman, Senate Farooq H. Naek, Federal Ministers of the two countries and senior officials from both sides. PMMO/wh
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No. 350 President Asif Ali Zardari today conferred Nishan-i-Pakistan upon Turkish President Dr. Abdullah Gul in a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The ceremony was attended among others by Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly, Governors of Punjab, Paktoonkhwa and Balochistan, Chief Minister Sindh , Cabinet Ministers, Senators, Members of National Assembly, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Senior Pakistani and Turkish officials and members of the Turkish visiting delegation. The citation read out on the occasion said, “Dr. Abdullah Gul, Turkish President, is a seasoned politician, eminent economist, academician and a great friend of Pakistan. His Excellency has played a key role and has been instrumental in furthering the ever-growing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Turkey. The fraternal relations that bind Pakistan and Turkey have grown in strength and stature over time and have weathered the pressures of over-changing regional and global scenarios. These are based on mutual respect, affection and trust”.
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No. 351 President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan and Turkey enjoy a special and most cordial relationship based on shared values and common interests. It is based on mutual love and respect between our two peoples. ‘We also share common perceptions on many regional and global issues,’ he emphasized. This he said in a speech delivered in a banquet given in honour of Turkish President Dr. Abdullah Gul at Aiwan-e-Sadr tonight. The banquet was attended among others by Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly, Governors of Punjab, Paktoonkhwa and Balochistan, Chief Minister Sindh , Cabinet Ministers, Senators, Members of National Assembly, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Senior Pakistani and Turkish officials and members of the Turkish visiting delegation. President Zardari said,” It is a matter of great satisfaction that this relationship has deepened with time. Indeed this relationship is beyond the bounds of geography and time. It is deep in the hearts, the minds and the memories of generations of Pakistanis.” Commenting upon the significance of this relationship, President termed it as ‘a factor of stability in the region and this time tested friendship is a source of strength for the two countries. He said that our region was facing a common challenge posed by extremism, militancy and terrorism. ‘Its origin lies in the decades old conflict in the region,’ he added. Enumerating factors contributing terrorist and extremist mindset, President Asif Ali Zardari said that the militants were trained and nurtured by the international community during its fight with the rival ideology. ‘When the rival ideology was defeated the international community left and abandoned the region to its fate, he added. He urged international community t carry out its moral responsibility to address the issue by materializing various pledges and commitments made to Pakistan on various international forums. Acknowledging the role of Turkey for promotion of democracy and stability and development, President Zardari said, “ within the Islamic World, Turkey stands out as a shinning example of democracy and development.” President Zardari said, “Pakistan and its people deeply appreciate friendship with Turkey and dynamic leadership of President Dr. Abdullah Gul for his role in bridging gaps and promoting understanding.” Holding of Ministerial meeting of Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) in Istanbul, leading contribution in subsequent FoDP summit and holding of Tri-lateral Summit in Ankara this year are manifestations of deep rooted and time tested bonds of friendship between two countries, he added. At the end, President Asif Ali Zardari urged businessmen and private entrepreneurs from both the countries to come forward and write down a new history of splendor, progress and cooperation in economic fields as many new vistas of opportunities lying untapped and unexplored. SH/wh
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No. 352 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has congratulated the whole Nation on the historic agreement among all the political parties of the Parliament on the proposed draft of 18th Amendment. The Prime Minister specifically congratulated the Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani and all the members of Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reforms as well as all the members of the Senate and the National Assembly for their contribution and political sagacity in reaching at an agreement on the draft of 18th Amendment containing constitutional reforms. He also felicitated the political leadership of all the political parties for exhibiting political maturity in the larger national interest. PMMO/wh |
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