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Pakistan, Belarus to deepen cooperation across various sectors

ISLAMABAD, Nov 26 (KUNA) -- Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko reaffirmed their commitment to deepening their friendly ties across political, trade, economic, cultural, social, and other areas.
During their meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, the two leaders emphasized the importance of advancing political dialogue and strengthening inter-parliamentary relations, according to a statement from Sharif's office.
The talks focused on expanding trade and economic cooperation, adopting a collaborative approach to regional economic integration and connectivity and enhancing the legal framework to facilitate bilateral collaboration. The two sides agreed to promote the establishment of joint ventures in the agriculture and industrial sectors, including for the production of high-tech and large-scale agricultural machinery. They also agreed to collaborate in sales, manufacturing and servicing of vehicles, including through partnerships between private and public organizations of both countries. This initiative aims to leverage the strengths of both countries in automotive manufacturing and technology, boosting industrial growth and innovation. They agreed to cooperate in expanding the network of sales and services of Belarusian agricultural machinery in various Pakistani cities, including through partnerships with Pakistani private and public organizations. Additionally, they considered initiating educational programs in the sphere of agricultural machines manufacturing. The two leaders expressed their satisfaction at the successful organization of the forum and also agreed to encourage both government and private sectors to collaborate and organize a series of seminars aiming to reduce trade barriers and facilitate market access.
Besides, they underscored the importance of strengthening cooperation in the field of education and culture, including the promotion of cultural exchange programs, boosting people-to-people contacts through art, music, literature, and other cultural activities.
Both countries also committed themselves to enhancing academic collaboration, facilitating student exchanges, and supporting joint research projects between universities in the two countries.
During the visit of the President along with a high level delegation, the two sides signed 15 important agreements and MOUs including cooperation in e-commerce, science and technology, accreditation, auditing , exchange of financial intelligence related to money laundering and terrorism financing, exchange of customs statistics data of bilateral trade, international road transport, environment and climate change, disaster management, vocational education, extradition treaty, health services and halal trade.
The two sides also discussed important regional and international issues. The Pakistani side briefed the Belarusian side on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. They underlined the need for resolution of all international disputes through peaceful means and in accordance with the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.
Furthermore, the two leaders expressed deep concern over the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis and significant civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
They called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and strikes on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. (end) sbk.gb