PM Shehbaz Sharif, Tajik president discuss bilateral issues

SAMARKAND: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met President of Tajikistan H.E Emamoli Rahmon and discussed various issues of bilateral and regional importance, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to details, the two leaders met on the sidelines of the head of state meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the historic city of Samarkand.

The meeting focused on the ways and means to strengthen relationship between Pakistan and Tajikistan in diverse fields including trade, economy, energy and people-to-people contacts.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and senior officials were also present during the meeting.

Earlier in the day, PM Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Uzbekistan on a two-day visit to attend the annual meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization being held on September 15-16.

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov received PM Sharif on his arrival at the Samarkand International Airport. Minister for Public Education Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, Governor Samarkand Erkinjon Turdimov, Acting Foreign Minister Gayrat Fozilov and Uzbekistan’s ambassador in Pakistan Aybek Arif Usmanov were present.

Soon after his arrival at the Samarkand Airport, the prime minister visited the Hazrat Khizr Complex and also paid respects at the mausoleum of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov.

The prime minister will also meet other world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.