Islamabad, 23 August 2021 (TDI): Chaudhary Fawad Hussain, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting in a meeting with H.E Mr. Aybek Arif Usmanov, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan who called on him here, today said that a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan is vital for building communication linkages between Pakistan and Central Asia. He said that enhanced cooperation between the two countries in areas mutually beneficial to each other would also open new avenues of opportunities and prosperity in the entire region. He added that the dream of building a rail track between Karachi and Tashkent and the start of truck service from Pakistan to Central Asia can only be materialized with peace and stability in Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistan enjoys cordial bilateral ties with the brotherly country and would like to foster close coordination with Tashkent on all regional issues particularly on Afghanistan. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to Tashkent provided a new impetus to the bilateral relations as both sides vowed to reinforce multifaceted bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. He said that Pakistan is desirous of an all-inclusive government representing all factions of society in Afghanistan.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to produce movies on the lives of Mughal Emperor Zahiruddin Babar and legendary Urdu Poet Asadullah Khan Ghalib. The proposal in this regard came up during the visit of the Prime Minister to Uzbekistan. It has been agreed that an expert group will be created for this purpose for the execution of this project. He said that Uzbekistan is a key Central Asian country and deepening of cultural ties between the two countries would give boost to people to people contacts.
The Uzbek Ambassador commended Pakistan’s role in evacuating stranded people from Afghanistan. He expressed his hope that an inclusive government in Kabul would be formed having representation of all ethnic groups. He also underlined the need for promoting all types of tourism between the two countries besides proposing PTV to telecast documentaries on historical Uzbek sites of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Sufism traditions.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of I&B.
