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Pakistan and Bosnia on Wednesday signed two accords of cooperation, including memorandums of understanding on the return home of illegal Pakistani migrants and scientific cooperation, while the leaders of both countries also agreed to improve trade relations.
The accords were signed at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, where Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia & Herzegovina Sefik Dzaferovic arrived on a two-day visit earlier today on the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Bosnian leader was received by the PM at his official residence where Dzaferovic was presented a guard of honour. Both leaders formally introduced their respective cabinet members on the occasion, Radio Pakistan reported.
Later, Prime Minister Imran and Chairman Dzaferovic witnessed the signing of various agreements between the two countries.
Under the MoUs, a large number of illegal migrants from Pakistan, currently in Bosnia & Herzegovina, will be returned through a readmission process.
The agreement between the Pakistan government and Council of Ministers of Bosnia & Herzegovina on streamlining the protocols of readmission of illegal Pakistanis was signed by Interior Minister retired Brigadier Ijaz Ahmed Shah and Bosnian Minister for Security Selmo Cikotic.
An MoU between Pakistan’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Council of Ministers of Bosnia & Herzegovina in the field of scientific cooperation was also signed by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and the Bosnian security minister.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul and senior officials were also present on the occasion.
Improving trade relations
Speaking at a joint press conference after the accords were signed, Prime Minister Imran said both countries had decided to improve trade relations with each other.
According to Radio Pakistan, the premier pointed out that trade between the two countries currently stood at €4.5 million which he said was “nothing”.
“We have had meetings and will have further meetings to improve trade and cooperation in all fields,” he said.
The premier also thanked Bosnia for its support of Pakistan’s stance on occupied Kashmir.
“[Bosnia] took a principled stance and talked about the people’s rights [and] a just settlement. India has been taken over by a fascist ideology — not just with what is happening in Kashmir but also with minorities in India.”
The PM disclosed that both leaders also discussed Islamophobia in their meeting. “We condemned terrorist acts by Muslims in France but we felt that for inter-religious harmony, it is important that freedom of speech is not used as an instrument to hurt the sentiments of any religious community,” he added.
“Any insult, ridicule or mocking of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) causes the greatest pain to the Muslim community and Western countries must understand that [they] cannot use freedom of speech as a weapon against Muslims.
“Unless this is understood, Muslims will react which will lead to marginalisation [and] radicalisation.”
In his speech, Dzaferovic thanked the premier for his invitation, saying he was “grateful for the opportunity to visit Pakistan”.
He said both the countries had stood by each other in difficult times.
Dzaferovic said human rights of the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir must be respected and stressed that the dispute should be resolved in line with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
He also strongly condemned Islamophobic incidents as unacceptable, calling for a dialogue to build bridges and evolve unity around diversity.
The chairman said there were great opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in many areas including military, agriculture and diplomacy.
Dzaferovic also had a meeting with Qureshi in which they talked about bilateral cooperation, the Foreign Office said.
“It was agreed that a vast potential existed to enhance cooperation, especially in the fields of trade and investment, energy, science & technology, defence industry, education, and people-to-people exchanges.”
During the meeting, the foreign minister “underlined the importance of promoting mutual collaboration through optimal utilisation of mechanisms of Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC), Joint Economic Commission (JEC) and Joint Trade Committee (JTC)”. He also offered training at the Foreign Service Academy for the young diplomats from Bosnia & Herzegovina, the statement added.
The visiting leader was also briefed about the human rights situation in occupied Kashmir and India’s attempt to change the demographic structure of the disputed valley.
This is Dzaferovic’s first visit to Pakistan. Earlier, Prime Minister Imran met Dzaferovic on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Makkah in May last year.