ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said Pakistan and Maldives need to benefit from the vast potential in trade and tourism, and assured to support Maldives under Special Assistance Programme for South Asia.
Talking to Maldives Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon at the Prime Minister’s House, Nawaz said Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Maldives, which are based on cordiality and common interests. He said Pakistan had been successfully waging a relentless war against terrorism, adding that the ongoing military operation Zarb-e-Azb had produced positive results. He emphasised that Pakistan would extend all possible cooperation to the initiatives of neighbouring countries to eliminate terrorism.
Maumoon invited Prime Minister Nawaz to visit Maldives and delivered a letter of the Maldives president on the occasion. The foreign minister thanked the prime minister for Pakistan’s continued support to Maldives. The two sides expressed satisfaction over the trajectory of the brotherly bilateral relations between the two countries and agreed to maintain the momentum. In a meeting between Maumoon and Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Welcoming the Foreign Minister and her delegation to Pakistan, Sartaj Aziz noted that relations between Pakistan and the Maldives were marked by cordiality, mutual respect and commonality of interests. The adviser observed that the tourism industry of Maldives had been growing and Pakistan would like to develop cooperation in this sector. He said that the development of shipping lines between the two countries held a lot of importance and efforts should be made towards this. The adviser emphasised the need to follow up the MoUs/agreements in the fields of sports, health, education, and narcotics, which were signed during the visit of the president of Maldives to Pakistan in May 2015.
The foreign minister stressed the need to further strengthen bilateral relations by promoting people-to-people contacts.