Pakistan and Bahrain reiterate desire to further promote & expand cooperation

Islamabad;Pakistan and Bahrain on Thursday reiterated their desire to further promote and expand bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest. The Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Her Excellency, Ms. Fawzia Bint Abdullah Zainal, along with a parliamentary delegation, called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi on 18 Nov 2021.

Expressing gratitude for the hospitality accorded to Bahrain’s parliamentary delegation, the Speaker conveyed earnest regards to the Prime Minister from the leadership of the Kingdom. She stressed that her visit was a reaffirmation of long and historic fraternal ties of the two countries. Recalling continued and close cooperation, bilaterally as well as at multilateral fora, the Speaker expressed desire to further strengthen mutual collaboration, in particular in the fields of trade, commerce and investment. Lauding the contributions of a sizeable Pakistani Diaspora in Bahrain, the Speaker termed Pakistanis in Bahrain as kin of the Bahraini people.

Reciprocating the warm sentiments of the Bahraini leadership, the Prime Minister reiterated his invitation to the King and the Crown Prince of Bahrain to visit Pakistan. He expressed special gratitude to the leadership of Bahrain for the care afforded to the 120,000 strong Pakistani Diaspora, in particular during the testing times of the global pandemic. The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to forge closer ties with the Kingdom in all facets of cooperation.

Apprising the visiting dignitary on the ongoing and egregious human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the Prime Minister stressed the need for the international community, in particular the Muslim world, to raise its voice for the protection of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people. He also highlighted Islamophobia as the leading issue faced by Muslims globally, and emphasized the importance of unity and solidarity among the Ummah to tackle such issues collectively.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also highlighted the serious humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. He urged constructive engagement of the international community and urgent measures to prevent the looming humanitarian crisis in the face of serious economic challenges in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister also stressed the need for unfreezing of Afghanistan’s financial assets. The Speaker agreed with the Prime Minister for a constructive and collective response of the Islamic world to the situation in Afghanistan, and support for the Muslim causes.

The Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain along with her delegation is visiting Pakistan from 17-21 November 2021 on the invitation of the Speaker of the National Assembly.

In a  between President Dr Arif Alvi and the visiting parliamentary delegation of Bahrain, the two sides emphasized the need to further improve trade, economic and political relations.

Welcoming the delegation, the president said that Pakistan and Bahrain enjoyed excellent relations in various fields which were based on common bonds of religion and culture.
He highlighted that Pakistan had great potential for exports in agriculture, food items, livestock, fisheries and surgical instruments to Bahrain and the volume of trade between the two sides needed to be enhanced.

He added that Pakistan was an attractive destination for foreign investors as it offered enormous trade and investment opportunities and the business community of Bahrain required to benefit from these opportunities.

The president also underlined the need to make collective efforts by both the brotherly countries to counter the challenge of Islamophobia.

He also shed light on the atrocities being committed by the Indian security forces in the Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and urged the international community to play its role in resolving the long outstanding dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

President Alvi reiterated the invitation to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to visit Pakistan.
He deeply thanked the Government of Bahrain for establishing King Hamad University of Nursing and Associated Medical Sciences in Islamabad.

Fawzia Bint Abdulla Zainal said that both countries enjoyed good relations and supported each other at international fora. She emphasised the need to further broaden bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

She also conveyed warm regards from the King and the Prime Minister of Bahrain to the President. The meeting also urged the need for enhancing bilateral engagements between the parliaments of the two countries to further deepen bilateral ties.