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Prime Minister Nawaz to visit South Korea
* FO sources say Nawaz would likely land in Seoul this summer
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to undertake a visit to South Korea sometime in the coming months, on the request of his Korean counterpart, Chung Hongwon, who concluded his four-day visit to Pakistan on Wednesday.
The modalities of the proposed visit are at a tentative stage but it is expected that the premier would be landing in Seoul this summer, well-placed officials at the Foreign Office told Daily Times on Wednesday.
The Korean premier is said to have left for Seoul from Nur Khan Base, Rawalpindi, Wednesday afternoon. Hongwon invited his Pakistani counterpart to visit South Korea soon, an invitation which the latter reportedly accepted immediately when the two governments’ heads met earlier on Monday.
“The visit’s confirmation would formally be sent to the Korean authorities once the PM Secretariat finalises the related dates. Hopefully, this visit would take place sometime after the Pakistani premier’s visit to Iran,” the officials close to PM’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatmi said on the condition of anonymity. Presently, the dates for PM Nawaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to Iran are discussed with no specific timeframe given in this regard as yet, but the visit is expected to take place in the near future.
The PM Secretariat spokesman and Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid, when approached for comments on the PM’s proposed visit to Korea, said it was too early to say anything. “Before everything is finalised, it would be premature for me to comment on the issue. It would be better if you wait and see till the things come out in concrete. But I can say that the PM would love to visit South Korea that is a brotherly state to Pakistan.
The South Korean premier came here on his first ever visit in more than 30-year history of Pak-Korea diplomatic relations. It was a historical and an unprecedented event for all of us... you me, everyone.”
The Korean PM had arrived in Pakistan on Sunday in a visit that dominantly entailed bilateral economic prospects between Pakistan and South Korea. The two sides have agreed on enhancing mutual cooperation in the energy, trade and industrial sectors and have signed related Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), in addition to planning to establish a Free Economic Zone along the Pak-China Economic Corridor.
According to official sources, the three specified areas in which the two countries have pledged preferential cooperation envisaging the provision of technical, operational and logistical assistance from South Korea to Pakistan involve: 1) The planned construction of Karachi-Lahore Motorway, 2) The planned construction of Expressway linking Islamabad to different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 3) Revamping of Pakistan Railways.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk