Belarus President Lukashenko arrives in Pakistan to strengthen ties

Islamabad, Nov 25 (PTI) Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko Monday arrived in Pakistan on a three-day official visit to strengthen bilateral relations, especially economic ties.
    President Lukashenko was received by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Nur Khan airbase.
    He will hold extensive talks with Prime Minister Sharif and discuss areas of bilateral cooperation and engagement, the Foreign Office said.
    Several agreements and MoUs will be signed during his visit, which reflects the strong and growing partnership between Pakistan and Belarus, it said in a statement.
    His visit comes amid jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's protest call, which has resulted in authorities sealing off Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings and secured the Diplomatic Enclave.
    Prior to his arrival, a 68-member high-level ministerial delegation of Belarus, led by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, reached Islamabad on Sunday and held multiple meetings.
    The delegation included the minister for energy, minister for justice, minister for transport, minister for natural resources, minister for emergency situations and chairman of the Military Industry Committee. Additionally, 43 prominent business personalities of Belarus are also part of the delegation.
    On Monday, Foreign Minister Ryzhenkov held talks with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and the two sides expressed satisfaction at the momentum of bilateral exchanges and high-level visits. They expressed the hope that President Lukashenko's visit would boost bilateral relations.
    They also discussed key regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia. They expressed their support for a peaceful resolution of conflicts and underlined the need for a coordinated approach to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
    The two sides emphasized the importance of enhanced cooperation in international and regional organizations to advance mutual interest and to address global challenges.
    Separately, the Pakistan-Belarus Business Forum was also held in Islamabad, where Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and Belarusian Minister for Energy Aleksei Kushnarenko were present.
    The two ministers also discussed avenues for bilateral cooperation and agreed to establish working groups for energy and industrial collaboration.
    In his address to the forum, Khan highlighted that the current trade volume does not reflect the economic capabilities of the two countries. He underscored the need for enhancing bilateral trade through diversification, emphasizing the untapped potential in sectors such as food, pharma, textiles, logistics, and energy.
    The Russian minister expressed confidence in the forum fostering new joint ventures in trade, industrial production, agriculture, healthcare, and education.
    “The existing cooperation potential allows us to set and achieve ambitious goals for advancing economic, trade, and humanitarian ties between our countries,” Kushnarenko said.
    The forum marked a significant milestone with the signing of eight Memorandums of Understanding and agreements to strengthen bilateral trade. Both ministers witnessed the signing of these documents, which are expected to pave the way for deeper economic ties.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)