Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Sunday appreciated the positive momentum in the bilateral ties between Pakistan and Egypt, and said that Pakistan held its relations with Egypt in high regard.

Expressing his views prior to his bilateral meeting with visiting Foreign Minister of Egypt Dr Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said the presence of the Egyptian foreign minister reflected the close and cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Egyptian minister’s visit showed their shared commitment to deepening the bilateral ties across political, economic, defence and cultural domains, he said, adding the visit provided an opportunity to advance their common objectives.

Dar also appreciated the positive momentum in their recent engagements at different levels on the margins of multilateral and regional forums, aimed at building of long cooperation, partnership and brotherhood.

He said the brotherhood between Pakistan and Egypt was well known all over the world, and they were committed to taking their multi-dimensional relations to the next level.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Abdelatty, in his remarks, conveyed sincere condolences and sympathies from his government and the people over the tragic loss of lives in recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad and Peshawar and reaffirmed complete solidarity with Pakistan in its efforts to eliminate terrorism.

He said they deeply appreciated the cordial relations with Pakistan.

Both countries were facing common challenges on economic, political and security levels, which encouraged them to cooperate with each other and share expertise and best practices to help each other.

“Peace and stability are the main pillars of their strategic partnership,” he said, adding Egypt wanted to elevate this relationship to a strategic level and reinvigorate the existing institutional mechanism of dialogue, especially the joint ministerial committee.

The Egyptian minister further said that under instructions from their top leadership, they were committed to strengthening the bilateral cooperation in diverse fields.