Pakistan PM proposes joint commission with Britain in meeting with King Charles, Rishi Sunak

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday proposed to set up a joint commission between Pakistan and the United Kingdom to further strengthen the bilateral relations during an interaction with King Charles III and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The international gathering is a biennial summit meeting of governmental leaders representing all members of the British Commonwealth. Last year, Pakistan’s state minister for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar led her country’s delegation to the meeting held in Rwanda in June.
The Pakistani prime minister also addressed the gathering, calling upon the participants to mark the coronation of King Charles III as a moment “to reimagine and reinvigorate the Commonwealth and infuse it with ever greater synergy and even stronger sense of purpose.”
“The Prime Minister ... expressed deep appreciation for the UK’s generous assistance in the wake of the disastrous floods that struck Pakistan last year,” said a statement issued by his office after his interaction the British king and premier. “He suggested that both countries needed to enhance the bilateral relations in various fields.”
“In this regard,” the statement continued, “the Prime Minister proposed the establishment of a joint commission that would be headed by the leaders of the two countries.”
The statement maintained the king and the British prime minister also showed interest in further strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries and praised the Pakistani community in the UK for playing a vital role in the development of their adopted homeland.
The Pakistani PM has gone to London to attend the coronation of the king on Saturday.
His visit is also being closely monitored in Pakistan amid growing political instability, as he is expected to hold political consultations with his elder brother and the founding leader of the ruling PML-N party, Nawaz Sharif, who lives in exile in London.
Sharif, a three-time PM, was found guilty in a corruption reference by an accountability court in Pakistan and sent to prison for 10 years in 2018. He began his prison term but was later released on temporary bail on medical grounds.
Sharif left Pakistan in November 2019 to seek medical treatment in London. He has not returned home since.