Pakistan, Turkmenistan hold political consultations

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan and Turkmenistan agreed on Tuesday to develop closer economic engagement in the priority areas during the third round of Pakistan-Turkmenistan bilateral political consultations held in Islamabad. According to the Pakistan Foreign Office, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar led the Pakistan side, while Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Turkmenistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov represented his country. The two sides agreed to intensify joint efforts to further expand and deepen bilateral cooperation including political, economic and defense domains. Both sides reviewed bilateral relations, including trade and investment, energy cooperation, connectivity and people-to-people linkages. They noted the positive trajectory of the relations and agreed to further enhance high-level dialogue and exchanges at the leadership level, as well as strengthen bilateral dialogue mechanisms. During the consultations, Ishaq Dar underlined the need for early f inalization of the Transit Trade Agreement and liberalization of visa regime to facilitate businesspersons. The two sides also agreed to promote bilateral parliamentary engagement and enhance cultural exchanges, educational scholarships; including training of diplomats and people-to-people contacts. Regional and global issues of mutual concern were also discussed, including the situation in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir. Source: Kuwait News Agency