Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Tunisia, Adel Elarbi called on National Security Adviser, Lt. General (Retd) Nasser Khan Janjua on Thursday and discussed ways to further enhance bilateral relations.

Matters regarding security and stability of South Asia and Africa also came under discussion during the meeting. Talking to the Ambassador, Nasser Janjua said Tunisia is a brotherly Muslim country and Pakistan is also keen to expand cooperation with Tunisia. Strong relations with Tunisia would be instrumental for maintaining good relations with other African countries as well, he said. The Envoy highlighted that because of its location Tunisia can be helpful for Pakistan in providing an easy access to European and African countries.

“We have a lot of scope to move forward and it is high time to translate our different ideas of cooperation into tangible projects,” the Envoy added.

He said that Tunisia attaches great importance to its relations with Pakistan and expressed desire to boost bilateral relations by extending cooperation in multiple areas including defence, trade and social sector development. He also asked Pakistan to keep up momentum of improvement in relations of the two countries, the frequency of high level engagements should be maintained. He conveyed the desire of his government to start comprehensive counter terrorism cooperation with Pakistan.

“Our government is keen to explore possibilities of enhancing cooperation between both the countries in field of security, particularly counter-terrorism. He expressed desire and need to initiate cooperation between Tunisian Counter Terrorism and Organized Crime Pole and National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), of Pakistan.

Both sides agreed to work together at all levels to promote cordial and cooperation bilateral relations.

Published in Daily Times, April 20^th 2018.