ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to foster their bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, energy and other sectors, the Pakistani foreign office said late Friday, amid Pakistan’s efforts to revive its $350 billion economy.
The statement came after Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s meeting with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, at which the two leaders engaged in discussions to further strengthen Pakistan-UAE fraternal ties.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and a major source of foreign investment valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE’s foreign ministry.
Both countries have stepped up efforts in recent years to strengthen their economic relations. In Jan. 2024, Pakistan and the UAE signed multiple agreements worth more than $3 billion for cooperation in railways, economic zones and infrastructure.
“They explored avenues to enhance bilateral cooperation across key sectors, including trade, investment, energy, defense, and people-to-people connections,” the Pakistani foreign office said, following the meeting between DPM Dar and his Emirati counterpart.
“The two leaders agreed to maintain regular high-level engagements and consultations to further solidify bilateral ties and coordinate on regional and international issues of mutual concern.”
The development comes amid Islamabad’s efforts to forge closer ties, especially in trade and investment, with several Central Asian and Gulf nations as Pakistan treads a tricky path to economic recovery since avoiding a default in June 2023.
Policymakers in Pakistan consider the UAE an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions. It is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates, making it the second-largest Pakistani expatriate community worldwide and a major source of foreign workers’ remittances for Pakistan.
During the meeting, Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to deepening its multifaceted partnership with the Emirates and highlighted the pivotal role of the Pakistani diaspora in the UAE, describing them as a bridge between the two nations.
“In response, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan reiterated the UAE’s steadfast commitment to strengthening its strategic relationship with Pakistan,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
“He acknowledged Pakistan’s significant contributions to regional stability and expressed appreciation for the positive role played by the Pakistani community in the UAE’s development.”
Pakistan, UAE resolve to foster cooperation in trade, investment, energy and other sectors
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Pakistan, UAE resolve to foster cooperation in trade, investment, energy and other sectors
- The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the US, and a major source of foreign investment
- Policymakers in Pakistan consider the Gulf country an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity
Pakistan remembers Benazir Bhutto, first woman PM in Muslim world, on death anniversary
- Bhutto was daughter of ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was hanged during reign of former military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq
- Year before assassination in 2007, Bhutto signed landmark deal with rival Nawaz Sharif to prevent army interventions
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders on Saturday paid tribute to Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister in the Muslim world who was assassinated 18 years ago in a gun and bomb attack after a rally in the city of Rawalpindi.
Born on Jun. 21, 1953, Bhutto was elected premier for the first time in 1988 at the age of 35. She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996, amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement which she denied as being politically motivated.
Bhutto only entered politics after her father was hanged in 1979 during military ruler Gen. Zia-ul-Haq’s reign. Throughout her political career, she had a complex and often adversarial relationship with the now ruling Sharif family, but despite the differences signed a ‘Charter of Democracy’ in 2006 with three-time former PM Nawaz Sharif, pledging to strengthen democratic institutions and prevent military interventions in Pakistan in the future.
She was assassinated a year and a half later.
“Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto took exemplary steps to strengthen the role of women, protect the rights of minorities, and make Pakistan a peaceful, progressive, and democratic state,” PM Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, said in a statement on Saturday.
“Her sacrifices and services are a beacon of light for the nation.”
President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, said Bhutto believed in an inclusive Pakistan, rejected sectarianism, bigotry and intolerance, and consistently spoke for the protection of minorities.
“Her vision was of a federation where citizens of all faiths could live with dignity and equal rights,” he said. “For the youth of Pakistan, her life offers a clear lesson: speak up for justice, organize peacefully and do not surrender hope in the face of adversity.”
Powerful families like the Bhuttos and the Sharifs of Pakistan to the Gandhis of India and the Bandaranaike family of Sri Lanka have long dominated politics in this diverse region since independence from British colonial rule. But none have escaped tragedy at the hands of rebels, militants or ambitious military leaders.
It was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto’s father, who founded the troubled Bhutto dynasty, becoming the country’s first popularly elected prime minister before being toppled by the army in 1977 and later hanged. Both his sons died in mysterious circumstances.
Before her assassination on Dec. 27, 2007, Bhutto survived another suicide attack on her motorcade that killed nearly 150 people as she returned to Pakistan after eight years in exile in October 2007.
Bhutto’s Oxford-educated son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, now leads her Pakistan Peoples Party, founded by her father, and was foreign minister in the last administration of PM Shehbaz Sharif.
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Bhutto’s daughter who is currently the first lady of Pakistan, said her mother lived with courage and led with compassion in life.
“Her strength lives on in every voice that refuses injustice,” she said on X.
Pakistan has been ruled by military regimes for almost half its history since independence from Britain in 1947. Both former premiers Imran Khan and the elder Sharif, Nawaz, have alleged that they were ousted by the military after they fell out with the generals. The army says it does not interfere in politics.
