Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan sign agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation

Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan signed on Thursday multiple accords to strengthen bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, including energy, mining, commerce, agriculture, culture, health, tourism, and regional connectivity.

The pre-signed documents were formally exchanged during a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s House as part of the maiden state visit of President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Zhaparov, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

One of the agreements was related to establishing sister city relationship between Bishkek and Islamabad. One MOU envisaged cooperation in the field of utilization of Pakistani ports for regional connectivity.

PM Shehbaz and President Zhaparov also signed a joint statement, “Strengthening of Comprehensive Cooperation in the Interest of Both Countries”, to enhance comprehensive bilateral cooperation between their countries.

Both sides exchanged MoUs between the Foreign Service Academy of Pakistan and the Diplomatic Academy of the Kyrgyz Republic; and between the Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan.

Kyrgyzstan’s President arrives

The MoUs on cooperation in the field of agriculture; mining and geosciences; energy sector and utilization of Pakistan’s ports for regional connectivity were also exchanged between the Pakistani and Kyrgyz sides.

The documents of agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons to prison for serving the sentence were also exchanged.

The two countries also exchanged the MoUs on electronic data interchange between the customs services of both countries; and cooperation in the sphere of tourism; and surgical instruments.

The documents of an agreement in the field of culture as well as for establishing sister-city relations between Bishkek and Islamabad were also exchanged.

The representatives from both sides also exchanged MoUs of cooperation between the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice and the Pakistan’s Ministry of Law and Justice; between Prime Minister’s Youth Programme of Pakistan and the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan; and between the Diplomatic Academy of the Kyrgyz Republic and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz said that Pakistan was ready to provide landlocked Kyrgyzstan access to regional and global markets through its ports.

He made the remarks as he addressed the media in Islamabad alongside Kyrgyzstan President following discussions between the two leaders.

“During our fruitful discussions today, we had a detailed exchange on […] bilateral relations as well as important regional and international developments,” PM Shehbaz said.

“We have reaffirmed today, and of course in no uncertain terms, our shared resolve to elevate Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan relations to a much higher level by enhancing collaboration in political, trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, education, defence, and of course, in cultural domains.”