Nawaz discusses Pak-Belarus economic ties with traders

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif arrived here Monday on a three-day official visit to explore new avenues of cooperation with a particular focus on cooperation in energy, trade and defence.

A warm reception was accorded to the Prime Minister as he alighted from his special aircraft at the Minsk International Airport. Flags of Pakistan and Belarus fluttered atop the airport building and a red carpet was rolled out. The visit to the Eastern European country, on the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, is the first ever visit by a Prime Minister of Pakistan to Belarus. President of Belarus, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister received the Prime Minister and his delegation at the airport. The Prime Minister was presented a guard of honour by the contingents of the Belarusian armed forces. National anthems of the two countries were played and the two sides introduced members of their respective delegations to the other side.

The Prime Minister will hold exclusive and delegation level talks with the Belarusian President, meet the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Council of Republic (upper house) and the Chairman of the House of Representatives (lower house) during his stay. He is also scheduled to visit industrial units and attend a ceremony at the Belarusian State University where he will be conferred the title of Honorary Professor. The Prime Minister will hold exclusive and delegation level talks with the Belarusian President, meet the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Council of Republic (upper house) and the Chairman of the House of Representatives (lower house) during his stay. He is also scheduled to visit industrial units and attend a ceremony at the Belarusian State University where he will be conferred the title of Honorary Professor.

The landlocked former state of the Soviet Union that neighbours Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, is spread over an area of 207,600 sq km, and has a population of 9.466 million, of which 83.7 per cent is Belarusian, while 8.3 percent with Russian ethnicity. Belarus is known for its well established industrial units of metallurgy, mechanical engineering, including tractors and agricultural, cars, machine-tool constructing and tool industry.

Earlier, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Monday held a meeting with the businessmen on board accompanying him for his three-day official visit to Belarus.