Welcoming the French statements that every country has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed hope that France will help Pakistan to use nuclear technology to meet its energy requirements.
Pakistan attaches high importance to its relations with France which is among its leading trading and development partners in the European Union (EU), the Prime Minister said while talking to Admiral Edouard Guillaud, Military Joint Chiefs of Staff to President of France, who called on him at the Prime Minister House on Monday.
He stressed the need of resumption of the strategic consultations between the two countries to take this relationship at new heights. The bilateral defence co-operation between Pakistan and France has progressed satisfactorily and Pakistan now has the largest world-wide fleet of Mirage III and V aircraft, he maintained.
He appreciated the French assistance for assembling the AGOSTA submarine to Pakistan and expressed hope that this co-operation will be expanded further in the future.
Pakistan wants greater market access to the EU, preferably in the form of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), especially since the EU has started FTA negotiations with India and all other countries in South Asia, Gilani said, adding that leaving out Pakistan in trade talks is discriminatory.
Referring President Asif Ali Zardari's meeting with President Sarkozi on sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, Gilani said that initiatives of President Sarkozi to broaden the scope of engagement with Pakistan and further expanding the multifaceted ties are source of satisfaction and welcomed largely.
He expressed hope that Sarkozi would undertake the visit to Pakistan by the end of this year. PM also briefed the French delegation in detail about Pakistan's efforts on war against terrorism and welcomed Sarkozi's stance that incursion of US and Nato forces in Pakistan's territory will be counter productive.
While conveying his gratitude to the Prime Minister for receiving his delegation, Admiral Edouard Guillaud reiterated his government's policy of respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty. He said France wanted its relations with Pakistan to be back on track.
French troops were in Afghanistan to help Pakistan and not as substitute to Pakistan's forces fighting against terror on their soil, he said. He agreed that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was in Pakistan's interest and stated that France wanted a strong democratic dispensation in Afghanistan to defeat the menace of extremism and terrorism in the region.
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