Pakistan important for US: Qureshi

MIRPURKHAS: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi here on Friday said that as the present government has introduced fruitful and friendly policies under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the foreign investors are taking keen interest in investing in different sectors of Pakistan.

Talking to the media, the minister said that the government was committed and taking solid measures for the strengthening of national economy, adding that Pakistan has great importance for the United States and soon both heads of the states would meet.

He said the strategic relations between both the countries would become stronger. “The economy of the country is now on the right track,” he added. Shah Mehmood Qureshi strongly condemned the incident of firing at Ramzan Ghanchi, Member Sindh Assembly, and said that the provincial government should take stern action against those who were involved in the incident and bring them to justice.

He said that it was the major responsibility of police to protect the lives and properties of the people. Meanwhile, Shah Mehmood Qureshi congratulated new Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Vladimor Norov on assuming the post.

Additional Secretary and National Coordinator of Pakistan for SCO, Zahoor Ahmed, who met the new Secretary General of SCO on the sidelines of the Meeting of the Council of National Coordinators in the SCO Secretariat, Beijing handed him over a letter of the foreign minister congratulating the Secretary General on assuming his post.

The foreign minister, in his letter, also appreciated Mr Norov’s accomplishment and said that his appointment reflected the confidence of member states in him for further development of the Organisation, a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on Friday said Foreign Minister Qureshi invited Norov to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

During the meeting, the Secretary General acknowledged Pakistan’s active and positive participation in SCO activities and assured his full support in advancing SCO agenda and priorities.

Zahoor Ahmed and the new SCO Secretary General agreed that SCO had become an important organisation which was set to play a significant and constructive role in the fields of security, economy and people-to-people ties both at the regional and global level.

Secretary General Norov is an experienced diplomat from Uzbekistan who remained the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan during 1995-1996. He assumed the post of Secretary General SCO on January 1,2019.