ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has expressed Pakistan’s resolve to renew and strengthen its friendships with African countries, stressing that it is time to further deepen Afro-Pak relations.
This was stated by the speaker during his meeting with the Speaker of Parliament of Uganda, Jacob Marksons Oboth on the sidelines of 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, says a press release issued by the NA Secretariat here on Tuesday.
Mr Sadiq described Uganda as an important country in Africa and invited Mr Oboth to lead a parliamentary delegation to Pakistan. He also informed his Ugandan counterpart that an 18-member PakUganda Parliamentary Friendship Group was already functioning inthe National Assembly.
The Ugandan speaker informed him that a friendship group had already been constituted in hisParliament and handed over a copy of his Sept 9 letter in this regard.
The two sides identified several potential areas of cooperation, including higher education, agriculture, food security, defence, climate change and parliamentary innovation.
Mr Sadiq also highlighted the challenges posed by climate change to Pakistan and said issues of mutual concern could form part of an agreed agenda for future cooperation. He briefed his Ugandan counterpart on Pakistan’s position regarding regional security and tensions with India, reiterating that Pakistan advocated the peaceful settlement of disputes and that war was not a solution.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s long experience in combating terrorism and the challenges arising from instability in the region. Staff Reporter