President arrives in Ashgabat on 3-day official visit

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Sept 16 (APP): President Mamnoon
Hussain arrived here Saturday on a three-day official visit to
attend the opening ceremony of 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts
Games (AIMAG).
The President, accompanied by First Lady Begum Mehmooda
Mamnoon Hussain, was received by Turkeminstan’s Deputy Prime
Minister Dadebay Amangeldiyev, here at the Ashgabat
International Airport. Minister of State for Petroleum Jam
Kamal was also part of the President’s entourage.
A young Turkmen boy and a girl, clad in sports gear,
presented bouquets to President and the First Lady and also
served them a bread loaf as a traditional welcome gesture.
Earlier, Pakistan’s ambassador to Turkmenistan Murad
Ashraf Jamal told APP that President Mamnoon Hussain’s visit
was significant as a source of encouragement for the 130-
member sports contingent from Pakistan which was participating
in different categories including Wrestling, Taekwondo,
Athletics, Weight-lifting, Tennis, Swimming, Kick-boxing
and Ju-jitsu, Belt-Wrestling and Billiards.
He mentioned that the participation of a 13-year-old
Pakistani swimmer Jahan Ara Nabi, the youngest amongst the
5,500 athletes from 62 countries at the AIMAG, was a moment
of pride for the country.
He said the relations between Pakistan and Turkmenistan
were important in view of the region’s strategic position,
politics and economics.
He said there existed immense scope for collaboration
with Turkmenistan in projects related to Turkmenistan-
Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and
connectivity links including rail, road and fibre optic
network.
The Ambassador said the Turkmen side in the Joint
Government Commission’s meeting held last month, showed
interest to resume air links with Pakistan under the
Agreement which previously remained effective from year
1993 to 2000.
He said the Civil Aviation Authorities of the two
countries would meet in near future to settle the
modalities of resumption of flights.