Gilani leaves for home after Uzbekistan visit

TASHKENT: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday left here for Islamabad after concluding his official visit to Uzbekistan.Prime Minister Gilani was seen off by his Uzbek counterpart  Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the Tashkent International Airport. Minister for Privatization Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Food and Agriculture Israrullah Zehri and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar also accompanied the Prime Minister.The Prime Minister was scheduled to wind up his visit on Friday, however the stay was extended after flight was cancelled due to bad weather system over Himalayas.

During his stay in Tashkent, Prime Minister Gilani held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Shavket Mirziyayev. The two leaders pledged to move forward in all spheres, with a particular focus on cooperation in energy sector, bilateral investments and increased connectivity to boost trade.

The two leaders discussed enhancing cooperation in counter-terrorism and ensuring strict control on drug trafficking. Pakistan and Uzbekistan, that already share an agreement on intelligence sharing, agreed on enhancing collaboration on ensuring peace.

Prime Minister Gilani proposed formation of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on implementation of joint investment projects and to facilitate their business community to participate in fairs and exhibitions.

Both the leaders agreed to jointly work for regional and international peace. Gilani also highlighted Pakistan's role in regional peace and stability and said Pakistan supports Afghan led and Afghan owned efforts for stability.

He agreed with Uzbek Prime Minister that the "6 + 3" approach was right to address the security challenges. Uzbekistan's "6 + 3" proposal includes NATO because of its anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan along with the "six" members Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, China and Iran and the "two," the United States and Russia.

The two sides also agreed on exchange of parliamentary delegations and to improve people-to-people contacts. Both the leaders were unanimous that cooperation in tourism and trade could prove mutually beneficial between the two countries.

Gilani also sought Uzbekistan's support to help get it full membership of the regional security forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

With Prime Minister Gilani and Uzbek prime minister Mirziyayev witnessing the ceremony, Pakistan and Uzbekistan inked an Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on ease in transport and transit of goods, and cooperation in veterinary sciences.

The Agreement includes ratification on transport and transit of goods and envisages free traffic in transit to the carriers of contracting parties through multi-model transport system in accordance with their existing national laws and regulations.

The MoU was signed on cooperation in the fields of animal husbandry and veterinary sciences.

Gilani who called on the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, discussed regional situation and bilateral ties besides covering wide-ranging issues.

The two leaders discussed regional scenario particularly in the backdrop of gradual withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. Both the leaders noted the need for an active interaction for a peaceful transition of Afghanistan as both the countries have a direct interest in the war-ravaged country.

Gilani was earlier scheduled to visit the historic city of Samarkand the next day, but the program was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. Staying in the Uzbek capital, he availed the evening by visiting two institutes of information technology. He sought a wider Pak-Uzbek collaboration in the Information Technology sector, saying it would help Pakistan implement its upcoming Rs 5 billion program.

Gilani's visit to Uzbekistan was part of his interaction with Central Asian states in a bid to explore potential of wider cooperation in diverse fields. He has recently visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.