ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed Pakistan’s commitment to facilitate and support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process.
“We will continue to support all initiatives for regional peace and stability,” the premier said while talking to UK’s Home Secretary Amber Rudd here at the PM’s House.
The foreign dignitary thanked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the warm welcome, and said the UK would extend all possible support and assistance to efforts being made for regional peace.
PM Nawaz also told Rudd that Pakistan intended to further enhance relations with the United Kingdom, especially in the field of trade and investment. He said the depth of institutionalized bilateral cooperation between the two countries reflected their richness and strength.
The premier recalled his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the margins of the UN General Assembly session in New York in September 2016, and said Pakistan-United Kingdom relations were rooted in shared history and strong people-to-people contacts, and were underpinned by close collaboration in trade, investment, peace, security and development cooperation.
Nawaz mentioned that presence of a large Pakistani diaspora in the UK was contributing to strengthen the relationship. He said Pakistan’s strong market of almost 200 million people, with a growing middle class, offered excellent opportunities for British businesses and investments.
“Pakistan greatly appreciates the work undertaken by the UK Department for International Development (DFID),” concluded the PM.
