Islamabad: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that given the structure of the globalised world, no nation can progress in isolation and the formation of partnerships based on mutuality of interests is a sine qua non to fast-paced development. Pakistan, he maintained, is blessed with unique geographical location, huge reservoirs of natural resources, distinct civilization, cultural diversity and skilled manpower. These aspects, he said, need to be highlighted abroad.
The Prime Minister expressed these views while talking to a group of Ambassadors-designate who called on him this afternoon at the Prime Minister House.
The Prime Minister said that economic diplomacy is the essential component of his government’s foreign policy. He asked the Ambassadors-designate to focus their attention on exploring markets for Pakistani exports and fetching investment. Concretising the relations through mutually beneficial economic partnerships, he added, is the economic policy of his government. He further said that Pakistan suffers from an image problem created by the vested interests and there is a dire need to correct the misperceptions about the country.
While referring to Pakistan’s very cordial relations with Bosnia Herzegovina and Mexico, the Prime Minister underlined the need for adding substance to the relationships with these two countries through focusing on trade and economic ties and enhanced interaction between private sectors. He urged the Ambassador Designate to Bosnia Herzegovina to work for re-activation of trade and investment agreement between the two countries.
In case of Mexico, he urged the Ambassador Designate to undertake efforts for exploitation of opportunities offered by Mexico through lifting of ban on import of Pakistan’s Basmati Rice. He expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s strong ties with Iran, Turkey and Australia and hoped that the new Envoys Designate would devote every possible effort and come up with new initiatives for further solidifying these relations in multi-faceted fields.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan has rendered immense sacrifices in both man and material in war on terror. He said that thirty six thousand people including personnel of the security forces lost their lives in the fight against terror besides economic loss of $68 billion in a span of ten years. He said that Pakistan has the makings of a successful polity capable of playing its due role in the global arena. He said that the country has independent judiciary, robust media, energetic middle class and functioning democracy, the realities not sufficiently taken care of in the global media. He asked the Ambassadors to highlight these aspects in their respective host countries through proactive engagement. He also directed the Ambassadors-designate to spare no efforts to resolve the problems of the Pakistani expatriate communities.
Ambassadors / High Commissioners designate who called on the Prime Minister included Lt Gen (Retd) Muhammad Masood Aslam for Mexico, Mr Abdul Malik Abdullah for Australia, Mr Muhammad Haroon Shaukat for Turkey, Mr Khalid Aziz Babar for Iran and Maj Gen (Retd) Syed Khalid Amir Jaffery for Bosnia Herzegovina.
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