News
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Pakistan, Australia to work for strong democracy: senator
* PM says Pakistan keen on promoting commerce, trade relations with Australia
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Australian Senate President Senator John Hogg on Friday said that Pakistan and Australia had to work together to strengthen democracy because it stood for freedom and the rights of individuals.
An Australian parliamentary delegation led by Hogg called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at the Prime Minister’s House on Friday.
Hogg on behalf of his delegation thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for the hospitality extended to them during their visit to Pakistan.
He said the purpose of the visit was to learn from the experiences of the Pakistani parliamentarians in dealing with their constituents in an era of revolutionary changes in information technology and social media, which were placing increasing and challenging demands on members of parliament.
He said Australia looked forward to the visit of Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari to Australia, to return the hospitality extended to the delegation in Pakistan.
The senator said that Pakistan and Australia enjoyed close relationship. He added that Pakistan had an important role to play in the stability of the region.
Hogg informed the prime minister that the delegation would travel to Afghanistan and meet the parliamentarians there as well. He also informed the PM that the interaction of the delegation with the parliamentarians and other sections of society in Pakistan had remained fruitful and they had got first-hand knowledge of ground realities in Pakistan.
Raja thanked the delegation for visiting Pakistan and applauded their resolve to strengthen parliamentary relations between the two countries.
He said that Australia was an important development partner of Pakistan and that Pakistan valued this relationship. “We are thankful for Australia’s timely generous assistance for relief against floods,” Raja said.
He said that Pakistan was very keen to promote commerce and trade relations with Australia. He informed the visiting delegation that there were great investment opportunities in Pakistan, especially in coal mining and power generation.
He said that Australia was a choice destination of Pakistani students for higher education. He thanked the Australian government for providing generous scholarships for Pakistani students.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk