Meeting between Minister for Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs

The Minister for Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan, Mr. Usmonzoda Yunuasali, had a meeting today with the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs (SAPM), Syed Tariq Fatemi.

Mr. Usmonzoda is visiting Pakistan as the Head of delegation of Tajikistan to the Fifth Session of Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Session being held at Islamabad on 15-16 June 2016. The delegation comprises Deputy Ministers, Ambassador of Tajikistan and senior officials.

Mr. Yunuasali and Mr. Fatemi expressed satisfaction on the excellent friendly ties between the two countries, which were steadily improving. In the recent past, two visits of the Prime Minister to Tajikistan and visit of the President of Tajikistan to Pakistan, have provided impetus to their cordial relations.

The Minister and the SAPM exchanged views on measures for further improving bilateral relations in various fields, particularly economic relations, energy cooperation, connectivity, defence and security, people-to-people contacts and tourism.

Mr. Yunuasali and Mr. Fatemi expressed satisfaction on the establishment of air link between Islamabad and Dushanbe. This would help in the promotion of economic relations, people-to-people contacts and tourism.

It was agreed that necessary measures should be taken, on priority basis, for the implementation of decisions taken during visits of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the President of Tajikistan. In particular, they underscored that CASA-1000 project, which will provide 1000 MW electricity to Pakistan, should be implemented by 2018, as agreed by the leaderships of the two countries.

The two sides expressed their support for regular meetings of Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Commission, Pakistan-Tajikistan Business Forum and Pakistan-Tajikistan Business Council, with a view to achieving the target of US $ 500 million for bilateral trade, as agreed by the leadership during the Prime Minister’s visit to Dushanbe in June 2014.

Mr. Yunuasali expressed gratitude to the Government of Pakistan for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to him and his delegation.

Islamabad
15 June 2016

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