DUSHANBE, March 7, 2011, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon has departed for Islamabad, Pakistan on a four-day state visit, a reliable source at the government told Asia-Plus today.
According to him, members of the government, MPs and representatives of Tajik business community are accompanying Emomali Rahmon on this visit.
“The visit is expected to result in signing of a joint statement by President Emomali Rahmon and his Pakistani counterpart, President Asif Ali Zardari, and three government-to-government agreements on cooperation in the fields of health care, sports and agriculture,” the source said.
Bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Pakistan in sectors like trade, energy, industry, agriculture, education and security are expected to be discussed at the highest level, he noted, adding that implementation of CASA-1000 project will also be the focus of the upcoming negotiations.
In the meantime,
Pakistan Today
reports Tajik President Emomali Rahmon is arriving in Islamabad today on a three-day state visit to hold talks with the Pakistani leadership to further strengthen bilateral ties. The Tajik president will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and is likely to discuss cooperation in hydropower, investment, medicine, education, transport and communication, trade, tourism besides ways to jointly combat international terrorism. The two sides would explore the economic potential for further diversification of their bilateral ties. A welcome ceremony will be held at the President House, to be followed by talks.
President Zardari will also host a banquet in honor of the visiting dignitary. President Emomali will also visit Karachi. He will be accompanied by a business delegation that will also interact with Pakistani counterparts to explore cooperation between their private sectors. The visit of Tajik President follows the visits of President Asif Ali Zardari in 2009 and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in 2010 to Dushanbe.
According to a diplomatic source, Pakistan and Tajikistan are likely to pursue a trilateral trade agreement with Afghanistan,
Pakistan Today
reports.
The two sides will also discuss initiation of a direct flight between the two countries to boost trade and people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
According to the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Pakistan in 2010 valued at US$21.6 million. This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Pakistan estimated at US$15.4 million and Tajikistan’s imports from Pakistan worth US$6.2 million.
