Islamabad (UNA-OIC) – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said his country would facilitate Uzbekistan to get access to its seaports of Gwadar and Karachi in a bid to enhance regional connectivity and trade.
In a meeting with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdlaziz Kamilov here Imran Khan said Pakistan offered a shortest route to international seas to all Central Asian republics including Uzbekistan and could prove as a gateway to landlocked Central Asia.
He expressed Pakistan’s resolve to forge closer ties with Uzbekistan and other countries of Central Asia in areas of trade, investment, energy, and people-to-people exchanges.
Expressing appreciation for the proposed Trans-Afghan railway project between Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, the prime minister underscored Pakistan’s commitment to supporting all efforts for the earliest realization of the important connectivity project.
Underlining the historic and civilizational links between the two countries, Imran Khan said that Pakistan highly valued its close fraternal ties with Uzbekistan and wished to deepen bilateral cooperation in all areas. He particularly emphasized that enhanced trade and regional connectivity were the cornerstones of economic growth and development.
Meanwhile, the premier reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast support for the Afghan peace process, stressing the imperative of negotiated political solution. He also expressed the hope that the Afghan sides will seize this historic opportunity to work together constructively and secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive negotiated political settlement.
On his part, Foreign Minister Kamilov conveyed cordial greetings of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and reiterated Uzbekistan’s commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation with Pakistan in diverse fields.
He also handed over a letter from President Mirziyoyev addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, inviting him to participate in a Central Asia-South Asia Connectivity Conference scheduled to take place in Tashkent in July 2021.
