This was stated by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Minister for Information and Technology Qamar Zaman Kaira while addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad on Monday.
They said Pakistan and Britain, during the recent visit of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, agreed to further strengthening their relations in various sectors including trade and economy, education and health.
Both the Foreign Minister and Information Minister, who were part of the delegation with the Prime Minister in this official visit to UK from May 8 to 13, said besides the annual review of the Enhanced Strategic Dialogue Process, the launch of the road-map for trade and investment and cooperation in education, health and war against terror were the key elements of the success of Prime Minister's visit.
The Foreign Minister while giving details of the Prime Minister’s UK visit said, it was on the invitation of British Prime Minister David Cameron for annual review of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue and it was a planned visit for which the dates were even finalized three months ago.
She said the personal commitment by the British Prime Minister to term Pakistan's enemy as Britain's enemy, speaks volumes of the close ties between the two countries.
The Foreign Minister said the two countries have decided to work on two road maps one each for enhancing ties in trade and investment as well as in cultural and education.
She said that Pakistan and UK decided to increase their bilateral trade to £2.5 billion by 2015.
The Foreign Minister said Britain also agreed to give £1.4 billion to Pakistan for the promotion of education.
She said Prime Minister Gilani invited the British Prime Minister David Cameron to visit Pakistan next year for second annual review of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue Process which he accepted.
The Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani held useful and fruitful talks with the British leadership and authorities.
He said the British leaders acknowledged the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war against terror.
Information Minister Qamar uz Zaman Kaira said Prime Minister Cameron also lauded Pakistan's role against extremism and terrorism and gave an all out assurance for support to the country for preferential treatment from the European Union for increased trade.
He said the response from the Royal family, the British government and the British Parliament to Prime Minister Gilani spoke volumes of respect and importance the United Kingdom accorded to the visit of Gilani to UK.
He said formation of Friends of Pakistan Group in the Conservative Party of the UK was very important achievement during the visit of Prime Minister to UK.
The Information Minister said Prime Minister's visit to the Buckingham Palace and meeting with the Duke of York was an important element of the visit that indicated the importance of Pakistan in Britain.
He especially pointed to the personal interest by the Duke in Pakistan's economic progress and poverty alleviation.
Expressing his reservations on negative propaganda in a section of press on the visit of Prime Minister to Britain, the Information Minister regretted that a certain section of the media projected the visit negatively.
He clarified that there were only 12 members of the cabinet and parliament and 16 representatives of national media along with the Prime Minister in this visit besides his personal staff which was a protocol routine in any foreign visit.
The Minister stressed that media must remain impartial as partisan reporting was contrary to the ethics of journalism.
Replying to a question about Pak-US relations, the Foreign Minister said both the countries are engaged in a positive discussion in the line with the recommendations of the parliament. She said the parliament has finished its work with the finalization of the terms of reference for the dialogue with United States, ISAF and NATO and now Pakistan has been engaged in discussions for future relations. (APP)
