ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Pakistan with a high-level delegation from Feb.12-13, Pakistan’s foreign office said on Tuesday, during which he will co-chair the session of a high-level strategic cooperation council focusing on bilateral trade, investment and other priority sectors between the two countries, and oversee the signing of several agreements.
The Pakistan-Turkiye High Level Cooperation Council (HLSCC) was established in 2009 as a framework for consultations at the highest political level between the two sides. Several joint standing committees under the HLSCC cover vital sectors such as trade, investment, banking, finance, culture, tourism, energy, defense, agriculture and others.
Six sessions of the HLSCC have been conducted since it was founded, with the last one held in Islamabad from Feb. 13-14, 2020.
Erdogan’s high-level delegation will comprise ministers, senior officials and corporate leaders, the foreign office said.
“During the visit, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Erdogan will co-chair the 7th Session of the Pakistan-Turkiye High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC),” the foreign office said. “At the conclusion of the Session, a Joint Declaration and a number of important agreements/MoUs are expected to be signed. The two leaders will also address a joint press stakeout.”
Erdogan will hold bilateral meetings with Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, the foreign office said, adding that the Turkish president will address the Pakistan-Turkiye Business and Investment Forum with Sharif. The forum will bring together leading investors, companies and businesspersons from both sides, the statement said.
“The visit of Turkish President and the holding of the 7th Session of the HLSCC would serve to further deepen the brotherly relations and enhance multifaceted cooperation between the two countries,” the foreign office said.
Turkiye and Pakistan enjoy cordial relations with one another that has expanded to cooperation in several sectors between the two nations. Both agreed to enhance the bilateral trade volume to $5 billion last year in May when Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Pakistan’s capital on a two-day visit.
Pakistan has been eagerly reaching out to international partners and close allies since last year in its quest to escape a prolonged macroeconomic crisis by strengthening cooperation in business, investment and other sectors.
Pakistan’s economic crisis has drained its financial resources, weakened its national currency and triggered inflation in the country. The South Asian country has repeatedly stated its desire to achieve sustainable economic growth through foreign trade and investment, long-term reforms and by promoting exports.
Erdogan to visit Pakistan from Feb. 12-13 to strengthen cooperation in bilateral trade and investment
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Erdogan to visit Pakistan from Feb. 12-13 to strengthen cooperation in bilateral trade and investment
- Turkish president to co-chair Pakistan-Turkiye High Level Cooperation Council session with PM Shehbaz Sharif, says FO
- HLSCC focuses on trade, investment, banking, finance, culture, tourism, energy, defense, agriculture and other sectors
Pakistan police, security forces kill 12 militants in separate operations
- The operations were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak, Balochistan’s Kalat districts
- The country is currently battling twin insurgencies in both provinces that border Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s police and security forces have gunned down 12 militants in separate operations in two western provinces that border Afghanistan, authorities said on Sunday.
Police launched an operation in a mountainous area of Karak district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, following reports of militant presence, according to Karak police spokesman Shaukat Khan.
The operation resulted in the killing of at least eight militants, while several others were wounded in the exchange of fire with law enforcers. Karak police chief Saud Khan led the heavy police contingent alongside personnel from intelligence agencies.
“Several militant hideouts located in the mountainous terrain between Kohat and Karak districts were dismantled during the operation,” Khan told Arab News on Sunday evening, adding the operation was still ongoing.
Separately, security forces killed four “Indian-sponsored” separatist militants in an intelligence-based operation in Kalat district of the southwestern Balochistan province, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area.”
Pakistan, which has been facing a surge in militancy, has long accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
