Pakistan and Egypt have agreed to deepen their cooperation in all domains, including political, defence and economy, and vowed full cooperation in efforts to eliminate terrorism.

The understanding was reached during a joint press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, addressed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty.

Dar said the purpose of the Egyptian foreign minister’s visit was to further strengthen bilateral relations, noting that both sides had agreed to enhance collaboration in political dialogue, economic partnership and defence, along with other sectors.

He said Pakistan considered Egypt a key partner in the Muslim world and expected the visit to further solidify bilateral ties.

He said Islamabad will share a list of 250 business houses with Cairo to enhance bilateral commercial engagement.        

He added that after six months of this initial list sharing, another list of 250 business entities will also be shared with Egypt under the same mechanism to take the total number of Pakistani businesses to 500 to be developed with Egypt’s collaboration. 

Dar said a new Pak-Egypt Business Council will be established to institutionalise private sector cooperation and promote mutually beneficial commercial partnership between the two countries.

On education and people-to-people linkages, Ishaq Dar said Egypt has agreed to double the number of scholarships for Pakistani students at the renowned Al Azhar University, Cairo. 

Dar said the two sides also discussed global and regional developments, including the situation in Gaza, as well as issues related to Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Condemning recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad and Peshawar, Egypt’s foreign minister expressed condolences to the government and people of Pakistan.

He said Egypt stood firmly with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and would enhance cooperation to counter extremism.

Abdelatty said Pakistan and Egypt enjoyed strong and historic ties based on mutual respect and shared interests.

Both sides, he added, had agreed to expand cooperation across political dialogue, economic partnership and defence, and were committed to boosting bilateral trade and joint investment.

He said Egypt would work with Pakistan in sectors including agriculture, pharmaceuticals and livestock.