Pakistan, Bahrain agree to boost up trade volume

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa on Tuesday agreed to reinvigorate economic and investment relations between their countries to boost the current bilateral trade volume of US $310 million.

The two sides expressed the commitment as Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid telephoned Shah Mehmood Qureshi to congratulate him on assuming the office of foreign minister. The two foreign ministers agreed to revive institutional mechanisms of Joint Ministerial Commission and Bilateral Political Consultations to explore fresh avenues of bilateral cooperation.

Foreign Minister Qureshi congratulated Shaikh Khaild on achieving the Tier-1 status on anti-human trafficking efforts and termed it a remarkable achievement that made the entire Muslim world proud.

He expressed gratitude for the Bahrain’s assistance in setting up Hamad University in Islamabad and for hosting more than 100,000 Pakistani workers in Bahrain.

He expressed concern over the reports of visa suspension for Pakistani nationals by Bahrain and hoped the visa restrictions would be eased up.