Pakistan, Bhutan vow to boost ties in trade, tourism

ISLAMABAD, Mar 19 (APP): Pakistan and Bhutan Saturday expressed resolve to further strengthen ties in all spheres, with a particular focus on trade and tourism. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Bhutanese counterpart Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley in around an hour-long exclusive and delegation level talks covered a whole range of bilateral issues besides regional situation. Prime Minister Thinley who is here on a three day visit to Pakistan on the invitation of Prime Minister Gilani noted the important role Pakistan was playing in the region. Gilani stressed the need to share information and good practices, by tapping into the huge potential of hydro power generation and natural disaster management. He hoped that the good-will between the governments of Pakistan and Bhutan would be translated into substantive economic, commercial, investment, educational and cultural links. Prime Minister Thinley underlined the great potential of cooperation and progress of the Saarc countries and welcomed Prime Minister Gilani's strong commitment to take the Saarc process forward. He lauded Gilani's contribution to engage India into a constructive dialogue for the peace, stability and prosperity of both countries and the region at large. During the talks, Pakistan also offered Bhutan cooperation in education, human development and increased number of scholarships to Bhutan, particularly in medicine and engineering. Gilani reiterated Pakistan's offer for training of Bhutanese diplomats at its Foreign Services Academy. The two sides reaffirmed their resolve to further strengthen and deepen bilateral relations through closer interaction at government and people to people levels. Prime Minister Gilani said enhanced high-level political contacts would benefit the two countries and invited the Speaker of Bhutanese Parliament to visit Pakistan. Prime Minister Gilani also proposed that the Pakistani parliamentarians should also visit Bhutan to study their development model, especially the model of "Gross National Happiness". The model is based on more holistic and natural development rather than on economic index. Prime Minister Gilani expressed the hope that interaction among Saarc member States would provide an effective and viable mechanism for promotion of peace, development and progress in the region. The Bhutanese Prime Minister also acknowledged Pakistan's strategic location that was serving as a bridge between the energy rich Central Asia and the human resource rich South Asia. Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan would be pleased to assist Bhutan in infrastructure development, telecommunications, agriculture, health and education sectors. The two leaders also discussed closer cooperation at the regional forum of Saarc. Prime Minister Gilani said the Thimpu spirit had worked wonders and he was personally grateful to the Prime Minister of Bhutan for facilitating his talks with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Thimpu, where it was decided to move forward and resume the Composite Dialogue between the two countries. Prime Minister Gilani underlined that Pakistan wishes friendly, cooperative and good neighbourly relations with India and noted with satisfaction that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also noted that dialogue was the only way forward for the two countries. Prime Minister Thinley said the Indian Prime Minister personally told him that he was appreciative of Prime Minister Gilani's reconciliatory and positive attitude towards Pak-India relations. He expressed the hope that the sincerity and the dialogue process between India and Pakistan would help resolve the contentious issues through peaceful means. He agreed with his Pakistani counterpart for strengthening bilateral relations through Saarc mechanism and expressed his gratitude for Pakistan's assistance in Bhutanese cottage industry and its offer of training in banking, diplomats and civil servants. Thinley said Bhutan would avail all scholarships and courses being offered by Pakistan. Prime Minister Gilani said after his meeting with the Indian counterpart, it was agreed in Thimpu that the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries meet last month to move the relations between the two countries on the basis of the Thimpu spirit. Prime Ministers Gilani and Thinley noted that they share a similar vision on Saarc and agreed on the importance of the two countries cooperating closely under Saarc to promote regional cooperation. The two leaders also discussed expanding upon the tourist potential between the two countries. Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan can learn a great deal from Bhutan's experience and said the tourists from Bhutan can also find centuries old historic places and relics across the country.