Pakistan seeks UAE's assistance in energy, aviation and real estate

[Naveed Yaseen]

DUBAI (July 11 2008): Pakistan has sought assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to overcome ongoing energy crisis in the country and for the development of airline industry. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who called on the UAE's Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum here on Wednesday night, asked him for co-operation in various fields of infrastructure development.

-- Sheikh Al-Maktoum assured all out support to Prime Minister Gilani

The Prime Minister said Pakistan also sought UAE's expertise in port sector, particularly for the functioning of Gwadar Port. Sheikh Al-Maktoum assured all out support to Prime Minister Gilani, and said the UAE would encourage its private sector to make further investments in Pakistan in various fields, particularly the energy and real estate sectors.

The meeting also attended by Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Federal Ministers Sherry Rehman, Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah and Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira, also discussed Pakistan's role in war against terrorism and the increased economic co-operation between Pakistan and the UAE. Prime Minister Gilani urged the international community to extend support to Pakistan, which was playing the role of a frontline state in the war against terrorism.

He said the new democratic government in Pakistan was following the three-pronged strategy to deal with the menace of terrorism and extremism.

The strategy comprises dialogue with the non-militants and those who lay down their arms, besides increased development activities with focus on the socio-economic uplift of the people of areas along the border, he added.

The Prime Minister said the use of force would be the last option in case of violation of agreements from the other side. He said after his election as Prime Minister, his first meetings were with US President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who were major partners in this global war.

The Prime Minister said a stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan as well as for the region and the world.

Gilani said Pakistan needed increased trade and not aid from the world to help tackle issues of socio-economic development, poverty, and joblessness, which were root causes of terrorism and extremism. He also referred to the presence of three million Afghan refugees on Pakistani soil, and said it was also one of the causes of

Difficulties in checking illegal cross-border movement along Pak-Afghan border. The Prime Minister invited Sheikh Mohammad to visit Pakistan, which he accepted, and said he considered Pakistan his second home.

Sheikh Mohammad appreciated Pakistan's role in war against terror and its credible intelligence sharing to curb terrorism and extremism posing threat to the world peace. The UAE Prime Minister also lauded the positive role of Pakistan expatriates in the socio-economic development of UAE.

Sheikh Mohammad apprised Prime Minister Gilani of his new charity project, "Dubai Care," under which five million Muslim students from across the Ummah, including Pakistan would get free education.

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