ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue, with its six Working Groups, covering diverse areas from economy to education, energy to defence and security, has put bilateral relationship on a sound institutional footing.
He stated this while speaking at the National Day and Election Day of the United States of America here at US Embassy.
David Hale, US Ambassador to Pakistan, members of the diplomatic corps/Ministers/Parliamentarians were also present on the occasion.
Ishaq Dar said that he was pleased to represent the Prime Minister and the people of Pakistan here on this historic day when the American friends were celebrating the National Day and the Election Day at the same time.
“Being a thriving democracy ourselves, we can identify and associate with the feelings and passions of our American friends on the occasion of this Presidential election and being a member of a democratically-elected parliament myself, I can understand the excitement of this moment perfectly well”, he remarked.
Pakistan and the United States, he said are old friends.
Their relationship, he said was spanning over generations and based in the common ideals of freedom, liberty, democracy, individual rights and the belief in the power of the people.
“Those are ideals that guided and inspired the founding fathers of the U.S. and those of Pakistan as well”, he said.
The Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, he said since after assuming the reins of the Government in 2013, had endeavored to make the Pak-U.S. relationship as a broad-based, multi-dimensional and mutually beneficial partnership.
“Happily, he found a willing friend and partner in President Barack Obama. Thanks to their leadership and vision, we have been able to place our relations on a stable and upward trajectory over the past years”, he added.
Ishaq Dar said that the Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue, with its six Working Groups covering diverse areas from economy to education, energy to defence and security, has put the bilateral relationship on a sound institutional footing.
“The dialogue mechanism provides an excellent platform for both sides to jointly monitor the progress achieved so far as well as to identify new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation”, he added.
“Apart from that regular high level exchanges, including military delegations, have greatly helped us better understand each other’s perspective on issues of mutual interest and concern,” Dar said.
“These engagements, characterized the resilience and strength of our close relationship and enable us to develop a comprehensive and balanced perspective on our meaningful cooperation with each other and the current challenges and opportunities”, he said.
The U.S., he said is a key economic and development partner of Pakistan.
“We deeply appreciate the development cooperation our two countries have had over the years. Importantly, U.S. is Pakistan’s second largest trading partner and the biggest market for Pakistani exports. We are very keen to further expand our trade and economic ties to the mutual benefit of our people”, he said.
The Finance Minister said “We firmly believe that given the imperatives of peace, stability and security in the region, continued close cooperation between Pakistan and the US, is important to successfully fight terrorism and to attain the shared objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity”.—APP
