ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko on Tuesday held a bilateral meeting and discussed trade, investment, defense cooperation, and regional issues besides reiterating resolve to further strengthening ties as well as mutually beneficial cooperation.
The prime minister, who warmly welcomed the Belarusian president at the PM House, said that Pakistan greatly valued its relationship with Belarus.
He expressed the hope that President Lukashenko’s visit would help open up new avenues for bilateral cooperation and partnership.
The meeting featured discussion on political relations, trade and investment, defence cooperation and regional issues.
Both leaders expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of Pakistan-Belarus ties in all spheres during the last decade.
Prime Minister Shehbaz apprised the Belarusian president of his government’s economic revival policy aimed at export-oriented growth and attracting investment from friendly countries.
President Lukashenko thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz for the warm reception and hospitality.
Earlier, President Lukashenko was presented a guard of honour on arrival at the Prime Minister’s House.
Later, in a joint press talk, Prime Minister Shehbaz said the two sides would again sit down this afternoon to hold discussion on the roadmap for future cooperation.
He said the two sides would meet again in two weeks’ time to finalize and convert these discussions into practical steps. This would be followed by inking of agreements in February next year, emphasizing that this would be a great march forward for the two countries to benefit from each other’s capacities and capabilities.
Shehbaz said the President of Belarus is a great friend of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan have also high respect for him.
The Prime Minister also expressed gratitude to the Belarusian President for his support for Kashmiri people who have been fighting for the right to self-determination over the last many decades.
In his remarks, the President of Belarus said Pakistan has never been a distant land for him but a very close and friendly country.
Appreciating the pragmatic approach of Prime Minister Shehbaz, he said the two sides discussed a whole range of collaboration in areas from agriculture to defence.
He said his country is ready to share its technologies with Pakistan. He expressed his country's interest to purchasing various products including those of textiles from Pakistan.