Pakistan, Qatar pledge to take their brotherly relations to next level

Pakistan and Qatar vowed to strengthen their ties by forging partnerships and enhancing economic and trade relations when foreign ministers of the two countries met on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met on the sidelines of 73rd session of the UN General Assembly taking place in New York.

Foreign Minister Al Thani congratulated Qureshi on Pakistan’s successful elections, and welcomed his appointment as the foreign minister. The two foreign ministers applauded the close brotherly relationship between two countries, according to an official statement.

Foreign Minister Qureshi welcomed increase in the bilateral trade by 53%, and the formal operationalization of the Hamad Port.

He stressed the need to unleash the great economic potential between the two countries by increasing the exports in sectors such as food items, construction material, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, sports goods and fabrics.

The Pakistani foreign minister proposed early visit of the Qatari Chamber of Commerce and Industry and stressed on activating the Joint Business Council, agreed between the two countries in 2017, the statement said.

The Qatari Foreign Minister thanked Foreign Minister Qureshi and stressed the importance his country attaches to its bilateral relations with Pakistan. He reciprocated the cordiality shown by his counterpart by stressing the importance of translating the longstanding historic relations between the two countries into enhanced economic partnership. He also emphasized the need to activate all existing institutional mechanisms between the two countries, to take bilateral relations to the next level.

Both sides reiterated that Pakistan and Qatar are important members of the Muslim world and vowed to continue to work together at all fora for the advancement of common causes, the statement added.