Pakistani Prime Minister invites President for state visit

chika ebuzor

October 22, 2017 2:37 PM

Mallam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, revealed this in a statement issued in Abuja.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi on Saturday in Istanbul presented a manual on strategy and tactics of dealing with terrorism to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mallam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, revealed this development in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday.

Shehu stated that Abbasi made the presentation during a bilateral meeting with Buhari, on the margins of the ninth D-8 summit in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Prime Minister disclosed that the document had been put together by his country’s army.

Abbasi stated that the presentation was made in view of the fact that both countries had similar prospects and challenges.

He said such similarities includes large population, key regional players in economy and security; the fight against terrorism, improving governance and the domestic economy.

He said Pakistan would continue to share experiences with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism towards developing effective strategies and results.

On the Joint Commission, which next meeting falls on Pakistan to convene, the Prime Minister said his country is now ready, adding that he would personally receive the Nigerian delegation any time.

He also requested Buhari to undertake a state visit to Pakistan at the earliest possible time.

In his remarks, Buhari said the Nigeria-Pakistan Joint Commission will be revamped as a veritable platform to strengthen economic and trade relations between both countries.

He expressed satisfaction at the level of defence and military cooperation between both countries.

The president, however, agreed with the Prime Minister that there was still room to do more.

The Nigerian leader regretted that same could not be said on the economic and trade fronts, which he said had fallen far short of what can be achieved by both countries.

”Nigeria-Pakistan cooperation is very historical. Military training has been very consistent and I am impressed by the efficiency of officers trained in Pakistan.

”But the performance of our countries in relation to trade and industrial cooperation had been very disappointing,’’ he added.

He noted that Nigeria had failed to use past earnings to create a commensurate level of socio-economic development in the country.

He, however, said that his administration had identified the problems, and was working to promote national development through international trade, industrial growth and the improvement of infrastructure.

The president, therefore, urged Pakistan to take full advantage of the new climate of investment promoted by his administration.

”There are a lot of opportunities, for us to harness. In the manufacturing sector, agriculture, commerce, solar energy and the electricity sector,” he said.

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On the fight against terrorism, Buhari told the Pakistani Prime Minister that Boko Haram terrorist group had remained degraded.

He said: ”We have moved them out from their strongholds in the North East, we have denied them space and even their attacks on soft targets are becoming less often.

”Even the opposition [party] recognises that there is a considerable improvement of security in the North East.’’

chika ebuzor