President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan greatly appreciates Uzbek support to its bid for SCO full membership and is keen to be associated with SCO's Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure (RCTS). This he said during his meeting with Uzbek Minister of Defence Lieutenant General Berdiev Kabul Raimovich at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.
The Uzbek delegation that called on the President included Major General Niyazov Rustam, Deputy Minister of Defence, Oybek Arif Usmanov, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary, Colonel Ibadullaev Atabek, Major Lutfulla Umurzakov, and Mir Shahid Aslanov. Pak side included among others Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Federal Minister for Defence, Secretary General to the President M. Salman Faruqui, Senator Babar Awan, Defence Secretary, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar and other senior officials.
The president said that historic and cultural affinities strengthen the fraternal ties of the two countries and Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with the Uzbek brothers. The president said that besides our cultural links, the shared threat of militancy and extremism converges the two countries to work hand in hand to confront the challenge of militancy.
He said that besides expanding co-operation to fight militancy, Pakistan was also keen to enhance its trade with Uzbekistan. The president said that their prime concern remains the scourge of militancy that has wreaked great miseries upon our people. Despite suffering huge losses and bearing the worst burnt of this menace, the president said, they would continue to be in the vanguard of international campaign against terrorism. Terrorism, he said, was not the concern of any single country but posed threat to regional as well as international peace.
The president said that a terrorist attack anywhere in the region impacted the entire region and therefore, all regional countries needed to confront it together. He said that they firmly believe that restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan was essential for the regional stability and peace and they must assist Afghan institutions in their capacity building.
The president said that militancy and extremism could only be permanently defeated by adopting a holistic approach where socio-economic development of the people of the area was duly focused. He said that the regional countries needed to take maximum advantage of all available platforms that unites them for promotion of inter and intra state economic activities.
The president said that he had been continuously advocating enhancement of regional connectivity, as it was the only way forward for any meaningful socio-economic development of the region. Lieutenant General Berdiev Kabul Raimovich thanked the president for meeting and said that Uzbekistan was keen to further promote its bilateral relations and mutual co-operation with Pakistan. He also expressed sympathies and grief with the flood affected people of Pakistan on behalf of his Government and Uzbek people.-PR
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