Pakistan visit fruitful
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has described his two-day visit to Pakistan as 'most fruitful'.
“Mine was mainly a goodwill mission after the transition in Pakistan. I was most warmly received at every level of government and also by the media and Pakistani society,” he told newsmen on Friday prior to his departure from Islamabad for Oman.
Iftekhar mentioned that he met with President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Commerce Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Information Minister Sherry Rehman.
“Besides, I also had a rewarding session with PPP (Pakistan People's Party) Co-Chair Asif Ali Zardari. All these meetings deepened our mutual understanding and widened our relationship,” he said.
The foreign adviser said, “Bangladesh sees Pakistan as a very important player in the region. It is our wish to develop our ties, as a part of our foreign policy thrust to build relations with Asian countries in general and Islamic countries in particular.”
Replying to a question, he said, “We encourage the process of reconciliation, democracy and development in Pakistan. We hope for the restoration of calm in the tribal region. We want to work with Pakistan to make whatever modest contribution we can to help stabilize another brotherly Muslim country of the region, Afghanistan.”
Iftekhar said Bangladesh's soft power lies in ideas like micro-credit and non-formal education. “We are already spreading these concepts to countries with which we share commonalities, for we believe these are values that will bring about poverty alleviation, women's empowerment, development and progress that are our ultimate goals.”
The foreign adviser, who is now in Muscat, will sign an agreement on manpower export and another on avoidance of double taxation with Oman, said a Foreign Ministry press release here yesterday.
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