Islamabad (TDI): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a meeting with US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker on Tuesday, reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to work with the Trump administration to strengthen bilateral relations.
PM Shehbaz underlined Pakistan’s interest in expanding cooperation in trade, agriculture, health, information technology, education, and energy.
He also stressed the significance of counterterrorism collaboration, especially in addressing threats posed by the militant Islamic State and the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Baker assured him that the US administration would work with Pakistan to advance shared objectives and strengthen bilateral ties.
No high-level contacts at the leadership level have occurred between Islamabad and Washington since Trump returned to the White House in January.
The prime minister also chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet on Tuesday.
He briefed the cabinet about the letter sent to him by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Muhammed bin Salman.
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The Saudi crown prince informed him about the renewal of the Saudi Development Fund’s $100 million per month deferred payment for petroleum products for another year.
The meeting was also apprised that the e-Office, to make government departments paperless, has been implemented in 98% of federal government divisions, with 100% implementation in 39 of them.
PM Shehbaz directed the officials to implement e-Office in all federal ministries and departments by March.
The cabinet approved the signing of an international legal deal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea for the protection and sustainable use of diverse marine resources in international waters.
It appointed Dr Shahid Aslam Mirza as MD of the Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority and Kamran Jahangir as MD of the National Book Foundation.
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Earlier, in a meeting with World Bank’s executive directors, the prime minister hailed the cooperation of the global lender for major development projects.
He said the recent Country Partnership Framework of the World Bank included an investment of 40 billion dollars in Pakistan, which was highly encouraging.
He said that with $20 billion allocated for different projects in health, education, youth development, and other social sectors, a new chapter of progress would begin in Pakistan.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
