TASHKENT: President Mamnoon Hussain said that Pakistan and Tajikistan have immense potential in trade and energy sectors and emphasized on working towards attaining the $500 million bilateral trade volume.
President Mamnoon met his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). He said that the excellent bilateral relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan should be translated into stronger economic and trade relations. The two presidents expressed satisfaction over the steady growth of the Pakistan-Tajikistan bilateral relations and exchanged views on important regional issues. The president also thanked President Rahmon for Tajikistan’s commitment to the CASA-1000 project and referred to it as a milestone in promoting regional connectivity.
The president said that CASA-1000 would prove a significant milestone for Pakistan to minimize its electricity shortage. He called for an early finalization of the trilateral agreement on transit trade among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, which he said would give greater impetus to regional cooperation. He also said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Central Asia particularly Tajikistan, which is geographically closest to it among all Central Asian states. The commonalities of religion and culture between the two countries could enhance people-to-people contacts, he added.
The two leaders emphasized the need to further strengthen cooperation against threats of extremism and terrorism, cross-border organized crime, drugs and human trafficking and other threats to regional and global security. President Rahmon enquired about the health of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and conveyed prayers and best wishes for him on behalf of people of Tajikistan for his early recovery. President Mamnoon thanked President Rahmon for his warm sentiments.
