Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the institution of the Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue, with its six Working Groups that cover diverse areas such as economy, education, energy, defence and security, has put the bilateral relationship between the countries on a sound institutional footing.
He stated this while speaking at the National Day and Presidential Election Day of the United States of America here at US Embassy.
US Ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, members of the diplomatic corps, ministers and parliamentarians were also present on the occasion.
Ishaq Dar said that he was pleased to represent the Prime Minister and the people of Pakistan here on the historic day on which the American people celebrated National Day and participated in the Presidential elections at the same time.
“Being a thriving democracy ourselves, we can identify and associate with the feelings and passions of our American friends on the occasion of this Presidential election and being a member of a democratically-elected parliament myself, I can understand the excitement of this moment perfectly well”, he remarked.
Pakistan and the United States are old friends, he said.
Their relationship, he said, spanned over generations and was grounded in the common ideals of freedom, liberty, democracy, individual rights and the belief in the power of the people.
“Those are ideals that guided and inspired the founding fathers of the U.S. and the builders of Pakistan”, he said.
The Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, since assuming the reins of the Government in 2013, had endeavoured to turn the Pak-U.S. relationship into a broad-based, multi-dimensional and mutually beneficial partnership.
“Happily, he found a willing friend and partner in President Barack Obama. Thanks to the leadership and vision of the two, we have been able to place our relations on a stable and progressive trajectory over the past years”, he added.
“The dialogue mechanism provides an excellent platform for both sides to jointly monitor the progress achieved so far, as well as to identify new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation”, he added.
“Regular high level exchanges, including military delegations, have greatly helped us better understand each other’s perspective on issues of mutual interest and concern,” Dar said.
“These engagements, characterized by the resilience and strength of our close relationship, enable us to develop a comprehensive and balanced perspective on our meaningful cooperation with each other and the current challenges and opportunities”, he said.
The U.S., he said is a key economic and development partner of Pakistan.
“We deeply appreciate the development cooperation that our two countries have had over the years. Most importantly, U.S. is Pakistan’s second largest trading partner and the biggest market for Pakistani exports. We are very keen to further expand our trade and economic ties to the mutual benefit of our people”, he said.
The Finance Minister said “We firmly believe that -given the imperatives of peace, stability and security in the region- continued close cooperation between Pakistan and the US, is important to successfully fight terrorism and to attain the shared objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity”.