Abdullah, Pak leaders discuss steps to enhance ties
islamabad — UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday met Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad.
Shaikh Abdullah conveyed to the Pakistan president the greetings of UAE President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his wishes for further progress and prosperity to the people of Pakistan. Shaikh Abdullah also congratulated Mamnoon Hussain on assuming the presidency of Pakistan.
President Mamnoon Hussain praised Pakistan’s progressive ties with the UAE and thanked the leadership and government of the UAE for their continuous development support for Pakistan.
The meeting also discussed bilateral ties and ways to enhance them in all domains.
Later, Shaikh Abdullah met Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the margins of the 11th UAE-Pakistan Joint Commission meeting.
Sharif emphasised the importance of Shaikh Abdullah’s visit to Pakistan “which comes at a time when the government of Pakistan is engaged in efforts to further relations with the UAE and other countries of the region”.
He noted Pakistan’s excellent political and economic relations with the UAE and the diverse joint investments and development projects between the two friendly countries.
During the meeting, they exchanged views on regional and in- ternational issues of mutual interest and their roles in fostering regional peace and stability.
Shaikh Abdullah affirmed the desire of the UAE leadership to take bilateral cooperation to new levels and to step up development aid to Pakistan in economic, educa- tional, health and humanitarian fields.
Meanwhile, the UAE and Pakistan have decided to establish a joint committee to address the energy crisis in Pakistan.
An agreement and commonality of views was developed at the two- day 11th Session of the Pakistan-UAE Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) held here.
The two sides decided to establish a joint committee on energy to address the energy crisis in Pakistan. The UAE Foreign Minister offered assistance in addressing this issue through focus on alternate sources of energy and transfer of technical knowhow since UAE has advanced technology for renewable sources of energy.
The two sides also decided to hold first meeting of the Joint Business Council (JBC) in the first quarter of 2014 either in Pakistan or UAE and agreed to appoint focal points to discuss establishment of joint committee for consular affairs.
Pakistan welcomed the draft agreement proposed by the UAE side for cooperation in the field of manpower and expressed hope that the issue of visas for Pakistan nationals would be resolved since there are 12,00,000 Pakistanis residing in UAE and contributing to the development of this brotherly country.
A MoU was signed at the conclusion on Emirate Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) and Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).