Islamabad, Aug 29: The maiden meeting between the Pakistan-Iraq Parliamentary Friendship Group (PFG) and the ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Pakistan, Hamid Abbas Lafta, took place here on Thursday.
Mehtab Akber Rashdi, Shehla Raza, and Muhammad Moein Aamer Pirzada MNAs were among the group members present during the meeting, which was presided over by Sehar Kamran, MNA and Convener of the Pakistan-Iraq PFG. Sehar Kamran greeted the Iraqi ambassador and remarked that religion, brotherhood, and culture had always bound Pakistan and Iraq together.She claimed that the Parliamentary Friendship Group may strengthen the ties of fraternity even more.
The ambassador emphasized the need for frequent high-level meetings between Pakistan and Iraq and expressed hope that such trips would help to expand and diversify bilateral cooperation in a number of areas. The Iraqi ambassador emphasized that there were several opportunities for bilateral cooperation between Iraq and Pakistan in the areas of trade, business, energy, and petroleum. Additionally, he stated that Iraq placed a great emphasis on its relations with Pakistan and anticipated further trade and business cooperation.
In order to promote more cooperation and collaboration in the aviation sector, the ambassador stated that he would want to arrange a meeting between the civil aviation authorities of Pakistan and Iraq. The Pakistani envoy to Baghdad was advised that a commercial section will be established shortly. Additionally, the 9th session of the Pakistan-Iraq Joint Management Committee is set for September 2024; during that meeting, a joint working group on trade and investment is probably going to be established.
It was mutually agreed that future meetings would be scheduled with the business community and chambers of commerce of Pakistan and Iraq, facilitating a dialogue between key stakeholders from both countries, in order to develop trade connections and find new avenues of economic engagement. The Parliamentary Friendship Group underlined the importance of frequent contacts between the two countries and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to developing closer ties with Iraq.
Both parties concurred that Parliamentary Friendship Groups can be extremely important in advancing parliamentary connections between two nations as well as parliamentary diplomacy and people-to-people interactions.
