Pakistan and Thailand have affirmed their desire to further strengthen parliament-to-parliament cooperation. This was agreed as the visiting Pakistani parliamentary delegation called on the President of Thailand's National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chai Chidchob, in Bangkok, according to a message received here on Saturday.
Led by Aftab Shaban Mirani, the delegation included senior parliamentarians Azam Khan Swati (Senator), Chaudhry Barjees Tahir (MNA), and Riaz Hussain Pirzada (MNA). The delegation also included Secretary General of the National Assembly Secretariat Karamat Hussain Niazi as well as founding Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) Khan Ahmed Goraya.
The focus of the delegation's visit to Bangkok is to explore possibilities of joint collaboration between PIPS and Thailand's King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI). The visiting parliamentarians are members of PIPS's Board of Governors. The German Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) is supporting this initiative. Speaker Chai Chidchob warmly welcomed the delegation and underlined the cordiality of Thailand-Pakistan relations. He added that the Thai Parliament would welcome any suggestions for deeper collaboration between the two parliaments.
During the meeting, views were exchanged on a range of bilateral matters and regional developments. The two sides briefed each other on the important achievements of their respective parliaments. They also expressed satisfaction over the warm and cordial ties between Pakistan and Thailand and the steady growth of bilateral co-operation in diverse fields.
Aftab Shaban Mirani inter alia stressed the importance of further strengthening the economic partnership including bilateral trade and expressed the hope that ways would be found to enhance Pakistan's exports to Thailand as well. Mirani also apprised of the efforts being made by Pakistan to foster peace and stability in the region and to develop co-operative ties with all the neighbours, including endeavours to resolve all outstanding issues with India peacefully through negotiations.
Among other things, it was agreed that parliament-to-parliament ties be promoted through regular contacts. Pakistan's Ambassador to Thailand Sohail Mahmood was also present on the occasion. Earlier, the parliamentary delegation had separate meetings with the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. They also had interaction with members of the Thailand-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group in the House of Representatives.
During its stay in Bangkok, the visiting delegation met with Secretary General of KPI Dr Borwornsak Uwanno and held day-long discussions on matters of mutual interest including KPI-PIPS collaboration. Ambassador Sohail Mahmood later described the delegation's visit as an important contribution to the efforts for bringing the two parliaments closer and further cementing the growing people-to-people contacts between Pakistan and Thailand.
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