Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday held a meeting with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, on the margins of 15th OIC Islamic Summit in Banjul, The Gambia.
The two sides discussed multi-faceted bilateral cooperation especially in the energy domain, a Foreign Office press release said.
They agreed to further expand trade and investment ties, and explore increased employment opportunities for Pakistanis in Qatar. They also exchanged views on a range of recent regional and global developments, especially in the Middle East. The two leaders also expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine and underlined the urgency of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.
Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Tuesday emphasised the need to further solidify existing fraternal bond between Pakistan and Qatar through expanding parliamentary cooperation, besides deepening ties in other socio-economic sectors. He expressed these views in his meeting with Ambassador of Qatar Ali Mubarak Ali Essa Al-Khater who called on him at Parliament House.
Talking to the Ambassador, the speaker remarked, “Pakistan cherishes its historic brotherly relations with Qatar and desires them to take up to new heights through bolstering parliamentary cooperation, expanding economic ties, and furthering people-to-people contacts between the legislatures of both the countries”.
Referring to the parliamentary collaboration between the parliaments of both countries, the speaker noted, “Parliamentary diplomacy is quintessential in bringing two nations closer which are already tied in eternal religious and historic bonds”.
He said that the Pak-Qatar friendship group in the National Assembly of Pakistan would be fully activated to bring Parliaments and people of both the countries closer. During the meeting, he also mentioned the invitation extended to the Speaker of the Shura Council of the State of Qatar.
