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Law, order and economy main priorities: Gilani

* Prime minister says Pakistan wants stable Afghanistan
* Pakistan and Yemen should dispel ‘Islam’s negative portrayal by western
media’

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Restoring law and order and stabilising the economy of Pakistan are priorities of the government, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday.

Talking to the ambassadors of Kuwait and Yemen, he said Pakistan valued its relationship based on common faith with Kuwait and Yemen, adding that there was a need to mould the existing political goodwill between the three countries into multifaceted, tangible co-operation, especially in the education, commerce and textile sectors.

He said the three countries had unanimous views on key global and regional issues.

Gilani told Ambassador of Kuwait in Pakistan Aziz Raheem Al-Dehani that Pakistan was keen to enhance bilateral co-operation with Kuwait across trade, investment, defence, health and education sectors.

Stable Afghanistan: He said Pakistan was a frontline state in the war on terror just because of its national interests. Pakistan wanted a stable Afghanistan so that three million Afghan refugees currently in Pakistan could return home, he added. The premier said Pakistani expatriates in Kuwait were making valuable contributions in Kuwait’s development, which was a source of strength for bilateral relations.

Pakistan could provide skilled manpower to meet Kuwait’s specific needs, Gilani said.

The ambassador said Kuwait would continue extending all possible support and assistance to Pakistan, adding that Kuwaiti investment would also continue flowing into Pakistan. Gilani told Yemeni Ambassador in Pakistan Abdul Elah Muhammad Hajar that Pakistan and Yemen had signed memorandums of understanding covering almost every field, but added they lacked proper implementation.

He also proposed the Joint Ministerial Commission meet regularly to consolidate co-operation between the two countries.

Islam: Gilani said Yemen and Pakistan should work together to dispel “the negative image of Islam being projected in the western media”. Yemen’s ambassador, who is about to finish his four-year term in Pakistan, said he would take away pleasant memories of Pakistan, adding that Pakistan was an important country of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and that its contributions towards world peace were commendable.

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