Pakistan intends to develop itself as progressive, peaceful nation: Solangi

F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi on Thursday said that Pakistan intended to move forward by developing itself as a progressive and democratic nation that desired peace within its frontiers and across the world.
Speaking at an international conference “Navigating Peace & Security in the Region and Beyond: Pakistan’s Role,” organised at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad ( ISSI), he said: “We want to be a nation that wants to look after its people and intends to focus on the welfare of its masses.” The minister said now the Pakistan government had a clear vision to focus on its people, and economic revival and it had recently taken several initiatives to bolster the economy and explore new prospects for trade and investment.
He said the countries and political leadership did make mistakes in the past and Pakistan also had its share of mistakes and adding “but now we want to move on”. The minister said it was in Pakistan’s interest to avoid the ongoing confrontation between major world powers. He said that Pakistan had some lessons from its role with regard to the confrontation of major powers in the past.
Solangi said now Pakistan was desirous of establishing good relations with its neighbours including India and Afghanistan. and added Islamabad already enjoyed good relations with China and Iran. He said that Pakistan also enjoyed very good relations with Middle East countries and now it was focusing to further improve economic and trade ties with the oil-rich states.
He said Pakistan also wanted to have pragmatic relations with Kabul. There had been no positive outcomes so far despite Pakistan’s sincere efforts to improve ties with Afghanistan, he added. He said that unfortunately out of 24 suicide attacks in the recent past, 14 had the involvement of Afghan nationals.
Solangi,Turkish envoy agree to enhance cooperation in diverse fields: Pakistan and Turkiye agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in diverse fields including economy, trade, culture, tourism, media and people to people contacts. This was decided in a meeting between Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi and Ambassador of Turkiye Mehmet Pacaci who called on the minister here.
Murtaza Solangi said that Pakistan highly valued its relations with the brotherly country Turkiye. “Pakistan and Turkiye have always supported each other in difficult times,” Murtaza Solangi added. Strongly condemning the recent bomb blast in Turkiye, the minister said Pakistan had faced the scourge of terrorism and Turkiye was also suffering from the same menace.
“We are a strong country and incidents of terrorism cannot weaken us as a nation,” reiterated Murtaza Solangi. In the meeting, the need to expand cooperation in the fields of media, drama and films was also emphasized. “Film and drama can play a key role in improving the global image of any country,” Murtaza Solangi said adding Turkish plays were very popular in Pakistan.
Expressing the desire to co-produce movies with Turkiye, Murtaza Solangi said that Turkish filmmakers could benefit from tax amnesty given the film industry in Pakistan. “Northern parts of Pakistan are rich in natural beauty and Turkish filmmakers can utilize these beautiful tourist areas,” Murtaza Solangi remarked. Moreover, he said that cooperation between the two countries in the fields of media was the need of the hour. He suggested that Pakistan and Turkiye should promote their culture together and in this context, joint films can also be exhibited at Pakistan, China Center.
Turkish ambassador said that Pakistan and Turkiye were cooperating in every sphere of life including media. He said the Turkish government wanted to bring Turkish films to Pakistani cinemas. Mehmet Pacaci said that the Republic of Turkiye was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and they wanted to make these events memorable together with Pakistan. The Turkish ambassador also appreciated the interest of the minister for information in the promotion of regional cooperation.