ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani on Tuesday said Pakistan was keen to seek and establish broad-based productive and sustainable ties with the Central Asian states under the ‘Vision Central Asia Policy’.
Expressing these views in a meeting with the Chairman of Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Koshanov Yerlan Zhakanovich and members of his entourage here at the Parliament House, the senate chairman said Pakistan also offered to provide access to CARS through Karachi and Gwadar ports.
He further observed that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with Kazakhstan and desired to further diversify the already fraternal ties.
During the meeting, he congratulated the Kazakh people and parliament for trusting the leadership of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and electing him as president.
He said under the leadership of the newly elected president, Kazakhstan would reach new heights of development, and prosperity and Pak-Kazakhstan’s friendship would be strengthened.
The Senate chairman extended advance felicitations on the upcoming Independence Day of Kazakhstan.
He congratulated the two countries on the completion of 30 years of diplomatic relations in February earlier this year and thanked the government of Kazakhstan for their generous assistance to the flood-affected people of Pakistan.
He overwhelmingly welcomed the delegation and said both sides shared a bond of friendship having deep cultural, religious and social similarities.
He hoped that this visit would further augment the cooperation and open up new vistas of cooperation at multilateral levels.
Emphasizing the role of parliamentary diplomacy, Sadiq Sanjrani observed that parliament 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 the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services was a unique research and capacity-building organization for parliamentarians.
The institute could prove to be an excellent forum for sharing parliamentary experiences and knowledge, he added.
He said considering the potential of both countries, there was an urgent need to find new ways to diversify and promote bilateral trade.
The Senate chairman said joint projects could be initiated in energy, agriculture, information technology, textile, energy, logistics and housing and construction sectors. Both countries had excellent ties at the defense level as well, he added.
He said a liberalized visa policy was the need of the hour to enhance communication between the academia of both countries and the public.
He said there were vast opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the fields of tourism, culture and sports.
The Senate chairman said there was a lot of scope to strengthen the educational cooperation between the two countries for the optimum utilization of modern technology.
Chairman of Mazhilis of Parliament of Kazakhstan Koshanov Yerlan Zhakanovich said Pakistan was an important country in the region and bilateral cooperation would bring more innovation and diversification in the relations.
It was a pleasure to visit Pakistan and the hospitality was exemplary, he added.
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 were also present in the meeting.
