Efforts on track to improve Pak-Ukraine ties 23 October, 2012 ISLAMABAD: Efforts for pushing forward Pak-Ukraine ties are going on and the relations would find a significant place in history of the two countries, the Foreign Office said on Monday. Fifth round of bilateral political consultation between the two countries were held in Kiev and details are released today (Monday), said an official of the Foreign Ministry (FM). Ayesha Riaz, FM additional secretary (Europe), led Pakistani delegation. Ambassador to Ukraine Ahmad Nawaz Saleem assisted her. The host delegation was headed by Yevgen Myktenko, special representative of Ukraine for Mideast (including Pakistan) and Africa. Poliha Igor, director general, assisted him during the talks. Before the start of formal consultations, Ayesha and Saleem called on Foreign Minister of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko. During the meeting, Gryshchenko said that Ukraine was keen to further strengthen its relations with Pakistan, particularly in the economic, trade and investment and defence sectors and he was keenly looking forward to the visit of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Ukraine. The additional secretary conveyed Pakistans desire to significantly enhance its engagement with Ukraine in diverse areas. She said that Khars visit is high on her agenda and she would be visiting Ukraine at the earliest convenience. Both side noted that close and cooperative relationship between Pakistan and Ukraine progressed steadily ever since independence of Ukraine in 1991. Exchange of high profile business delegations between the two countries during this period has been another significant development. Both sides decided to work for exchange of visits by foreign ministers and commerce and trade ministers followed by visits of the president/prime minister at mutually convenient dates in 2012/2013. It was agreed to finalise drafts of pending agreements between the two countries with a view to sign these MoUs/agreements at the earliest. It was also agreed to establish a visa free regime for diplomatic passport holders of both countries. The discussions during the consultations mainly focused on exploring possibilities to further deepen bilateral engagement in sectors including commerce and trade, education, science and technology, investment and culture. Pakistan delegation highlighted that both sides would benefit from collaboration in area of coal-powered energy generation and that Pakistan would welcome Ukrainian expertise and investment in Thar Coal Project. Both sides also had an exchange of views on regional and international issues of mutual interest including situation in Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. Both sides noted that generally there existed unanimity of views on these subjects. The two sides agreed to hold the next round of the bilateral political consultations in Islamabad in 2013.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 12:50:36 +0000
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