By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said Pakistan attached great significance to its ties with Egypt and desired to further promote and diversify bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interests.
The President said both countries enjoyed close relations which needed to be further strengthened in the areas of trade, cultural and defence. He made these remarks while talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Egypt Sajid Bilal, who called on him here at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The President felicitated the Ambassador-designate on his appointment as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Egypt and expressed the confidence that he would make concerted efforts for improvement of bilateral relations with Egypt.
He expressed confidence that the ambassador would focus on enhancing economic and defence cooperation. The President asked the envoy designate to work for improving the image of the country during his tenure in Egypt. He also asked him to highlight Kashmir issue in the host country, particularly the atrocities being committed by India against the Muslim population of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier this year, Dr. Arif Alvi said Pakistan was attaching high value to relations with Egypt and the two countries had strong defense relations.
Talking to Egyptian Commander in Chief and Minister for Defense General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki in Islamabad, Alvi said the two countries had great potential to cooperate in defense production, an official statement about the meeting said.
“We share Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) membership and have deep rooted relations in diverse fields including defense,” the then Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said.
