President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday called for transforming the bilateral transit trade agreement of Pakistan and Afghanistan to trilateral transit trade agreements with the Central Asian Republics (CARs).
This he said during two meetings, first, one-on-one with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and second during delegation level talks headed by the two Presidents here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday.Those who were present during the delegation level talks included among others Burhanuddin Rabbani, Chairman of High Peace Council, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, Foreign Minister, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Minister for National Defence, Bismillah Mohammadi, Minister for Interior Affairs, Mohammad Ismail Khan, Minister for Energy and Water, Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Minister for Commerce, Dr. Farooq Wardak, Minister for Education and Mohammad Omar Daudzai, Afghan Ambassador, besides other senior officials from the Afghan side.Pakistan side included Ministers for Industries and Defence Production, Commerce, Defence, Interior, Finance, Water and Power, SAFRON and other senior officials besides Secretary General to the President, MOS for Foreign Affairs, Spokesperson to the President and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan.
Briefing the media, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that matters related to bilateral relations, Pak-Afghan Transit Trade agreement, shared threat of militancy and terrorism, need for working out joint strategy, enhancing various modes of connectivity and speedy implementation of mega connectivity projects and situation in the region were discussed.
Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting of the two Presidents was held in a very cordial and constructive manner in which a whole gamut of relations and issues of shared concerns were discussed.
He said that before the initiation of formal talks, President Karzai expressed his heart-felt condolence to President Zardari over the death of his father recently. He offered Fateha with the President and prayed to Almighty for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
This was followed by a detailed discussion by the two Presidents on bilateral matters.
The two presidents during their one-on-one meeting and later at delegation level, agreed to accord high priority to the development agenda and to take steps to further promote economic and trade cooperation besides focusing on issue of security.
It was also agreed to further promote cooperation in connectivity, infrastructure and energy fields to further boost economic development of the two countries.
The two Presidents also agreed to develop mechanism to implement mega projects like Peshawar-Jalalabad-Herat Expressway and Peshawar-Jalalabad rail link.
Progress in the implementation of TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) gas pipeline and CASA-1000 projects was also reviewed and their speedy execution was emphasized by the two Presidents.
Discussing Pak-Afghan Transit Trade agreement, President Zardari said that it was heartening that the two countries have reached an accord on implementation details for the transit trade agreement. He said that the bilateral trade agreement promises new venues and opportunities for development of the two countries.
The President said that the next step is to upgrade the bilateral level transit trade agreement and enter into similar arrangements with Central Asian Republics.
He said that transforming bilateral agreement into trilateral arrangement would usher into new era of development of the region by creating a win-win situation for every country involved.
Discussing the regional situation, the President appreciated leadership and vision of President Karzai for prosperity and peace of the region. He said that the two countries were adversely impacted by militancy and terrorism and it was necessary that both the countries work hand in hand to work to deal with it.
The President said that Pakistan has always taken principled stance to support efforts intended to bring peace, prosperity and stability to Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistan has always supported and will continue to support an Afghan-led peace process in Afghanistan.
The President reiterated his call that Pakistan has abiding interest in the stability, prosperity and development of Afghanistan and Pakistan was ready to contribute its share for the capacity building of Afghan institutions.
Referring to the contacts between women parliamentarians of the two countries the President said that such contacts needed to be stepped up as an element of soft power for peace and stability in the region. APP
