ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Australia Wednesday agreed to further enhance and strengthen bilateral trade, especially in the field of agriculture for the benefit of the two countries.
The agreement was reached in talks between the delegations of the two countries here at Foreign Office. Australian Foreign Minister Ms Julie Bishop, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit, led her country’s delegation while Pakistan’s side was led by Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz. Addressing a joint press conference after the talks, Sartaj Aziz said that Australia had been asked to provide greater market access to Pakistani products.
He said that Pakistan and Australia enjoyed excellent relations, which were based on mutual respect and shared interests. The two sides, he added, agreed to further consolidate the existing friendly people to people contacts, underpinned by the presence of 80,000 strong Pakistani diaspora and around 13,000 students in Australia. Appreciating the Australian Development Cooperation Programme, Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan would like to strengthen interaction with Austalia in agriculture, livestock and water resource management.
The Advisor said that Pakistan and Australia shared common perceptions in combating terrorism. “We resolve to continue our cooperation on counter-terrorism and transnational crime.”
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said her country attached great importance to its bilateral relations with Pakistan.
“We have long been friends and want to diversify cooperation in different fields,” she said.
The Foreign Minister said both the countries had common interests in countering transnational crimes, including drug and human smuggling.
She announced 24 million Australian dollars development assistance to support Pakistan’s efforts for facilitating regional trade and investment as well as for the rehabilitation of its border areas.
This support, she said, was part of a package of over 41.3 million Australian in development assistance. Ten million Australian dollars out of this assistance would be provided to Pakistan to restore damaged infrastructure, improve local and provincial service delivery, and support the livelihoods of population affected by floods and conflict in Khyber Pakhtunkwa, FATA and Balochistan, through the World Bank MultiDonor Trust Fund for Border Area Programme.
Such visits, she said, would give a message to the world that Pakistan was a safe place.
Replying to question on Australian-India civil nuclear cooperation, the minister said Australia was a power house and wanted to export energy to the world. Currently both Australia and India were negotiating the deal, she said, adding that her country would extend the facility to India under strict controls.
