Kazakhstan wants Pakistan's cooperation on tourism, says envoy

Also says that he would focus on enhancing ties between the two countries

ISLAMABAD: Kazakhstan is keen to expand and diversify its relations with Pakistan particularly in the field of trade and economics.

This was stated by Akan Rakhmetullin, the new ambassador of Kazakhstan who presented his credentials to President Arif Alvi the other day.

Addressing his maiden news conference at his residence on Thursday, Rakhmetullin said that during his tenure as ambassador, he would focus on enhancing ties between the two countries.

Apart from traditional channels of trade and economics, one sphere where Kazakhstan and Pakistan could further enhance cooperation was tourism.

Ambassador Rakhmetullin, who will be serving for the second time in Pakistan, said that his country has abandoned its stockpiles of nuclear weapons— remnants of the Soviet rule. The message in this for Pakistan, he said, was that they discourage the idea of using nuclear arms.

With talk of war in the air following recent hostilities with India over the annexation of Jammu and Kashmir, he hoped both Islamabad and New Delhi will refrain from using their nuclear weapons. He added that the trade and economic relations between the two countries require a spur as they do not reflect the proximity of ties between the two nations.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2019.