ISLAMABAD: Arab Parliament delegates have started their first visit to Islamabad as they arrived on Sunday to develop and strengthen parliamentary relations with Pakistan, a Pakistan Senate member said.
The Arab Parliament is the legislative body of the Arab League, a key 22-member organization of Arab countries established in 1945.
The high-profile delegation led by Arab Parliament speaker Adel Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi is in Islamabad on a five-day visit on the invitation of Senate chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani.
They were received on arrival by Senator Sana Jamali.
“The common goal is to pave the way for the development of bilateral cooperation and mutual relations,” Jamali told Arab News. “The Arab Parliament is a very important forum.”
The first parliamentary-level agreements will be signed on Monday.
“Their first engagement is at the House of Federation (Senate) where chairman senate will welcome them. After meeting with Chairman Senate, MOUs and agreements would be signed there,” Jamali said, adding that after the Senate visit, the delegation will meet President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Khan.
“The agreements would focus on strengthening bonding between Pakistani and Arab parliament. The main areas are bilateral parliamentarian exchanges, economic and cultural cooperation between member countries.”
In a statement on Saturday, the Arab Parliament said the “first of its kind” visit aims to “strengthen Arab parliamentary relations with the Pakistani side, especially in light of positive developments and remarkable growth in relations between the two sides in the political, economic, security and military fields.”
