Chairman Senate Mohammadmian Soomro has said that Pakistan believed in co-operation and mutually beneficial relations among the developing countries. The Senate Chairman was talking to the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla who called on him here on Saturday.
During the meeting they discussed ways and means to further strengthen and consolidate bilateral relations in trade, economic, parliamentary and other fields.
Welcoming the Cuban minister, the Chairman Senate said that Pakistan attaches immense importance to its relations with Cuba. He said that there exists a great potential to increase trade links between the two countries.
He was of the view that the excellent political and diplomatic relations that the two countries enjoy can be gauged from the fact that they were playing a very significant role as members of NAM and UN.
These ties, he said, should be extended to other sectors, as there were many fields like science and technology, education, health, commerce and trade in which the two countries can work together for mutual benefit.
Soomro expressed the view that the timely Cuban help to rescue the victims of the earthquake that hit Pakistan in October last manifests Cuban peoples' desire to further strengthen the friendly relations and promote ties with Pakistan in different fields.
He lauded the role played by the Cuban doctors and paramedical staff in the earthquake hit areas and termed it a testimony to the growing Pak-Cuban ties.
He thanked the Cuban people and the government for their generous assistance to the earthquake victims. Soomro apprised the Cuban First Deputy Foreign Minister about the role and composition of the two Houses of Parliament. He pointed out that the two Houses of Parliament have been deliberating comprehensively on all the major political, economic and social issues. The Cuban minister expressed the view that Pakistan holds important place in this region due to its geo-strategic location and that Cuba believes in promoting and further cementing ties with Pakistan.
He underlined the need to further promote parliamentary relations and exchange of visits at different levels between the two countries. Parrilla suggested that greater co-operation between the parliaments of the two countries would enable them to share technical expertise and benefit from each others' experience in fields like education, health, agriculture etc.