Statement by the Prime Minister at Joint Press Stake Out with the President of Turkmenistan

Your Excellency President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov,

Dear Media Persons,

I am delighted to cordially welcome my brother, H.E. Mr. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan and his delegation to Pakistan.

We are meeting for the third time in about nine months. This, in itself, reflects the depth, warmth and cordiality of our relations with Turkmenistan.

We have had in-depth exchange of views on a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Pakistan and Turkmenistan have close fraternal ties that are deep rooted in shared history, culture and faith. These bonds of friendship are growing from strength to strength with the passage of time.

We have agreed to enhance our economic relations, particularly bilateral trade. The holding of Pakistan-Turkmenistan Business Forum on the sidelines of this visit, will facilitate bilateral trade and investment. Such B2B contacts should be held regularly for boosting our economic relations.

Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project is a mega energy cooperation project in the region. This will greatly help us in mitigating the shortage of natural gas in Pakistan. I was delighted to personally attend the extremely well managed and impressive ground breaking ceremony of TAPI at Mary in Turkmenistan in December last year. I am confident that, thanks to Turkmen gas, our energy starved industry will be running at its full potential.

We had signed an MoU with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan during my visit to Ashgabat in December 2015 for import of 1,000 MW of electricity from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan. This will help us in reducing the energy deficit in Pakistan. We have agreed that the work on this important project should be undertaken on a fast track.

These regional energy projects will facilitate regional connectivity and contribute to peace, stability and security by creating interdependence in the region.

Our deep seaports provide shortest route to the Arabian Sea to Turkmenistan and other Central Asian States. We would be happy to see our brothers in Central Asia use these facilities as well.

Regional connectivity is an important pillar of our Vision 2025, which provides for making Pakistan a hub of regional trade and commerce. We are closely working with Turkmenistan for improving infrastructure development for better regional connectivity. This will be conducive to the promotion of economic relations, people-to-people contacts and tourism.

We have signed today a Joint Communique and Agreements/MoUs covering a wide range of our bilateral relations. These will be helpful in further strengthening our friendly ties.

We share the concern that terrorism and extremism is the root cause of insecurity and instability in the region. This menace also undermines our endeavours for socio-economic development. We have to work collectively to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and extremism.

We are happy that our two countries have good coordination at international forums. We will continue to work together for regional and international peace and security.

I am happy to accept the invitation from my brother, President Berdimuhamedov, for a visit to Turkmenistan, on mutually convenient dates.

I would like to thank once again the President of Turkmenistan for accepting my invitation to visit Pakistan.

Thank you.