Pakistan and Maldives have agreed to boost their bilateral trade volume from $13 million to $200 million over the next two years, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, as the two countries signed 20 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and an agreement to strengthen cooperation across multiple sectors.
The agreements were signed during the three-day state visit of Maldivian President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, the first by a president of the island nation to Pakistan in 11 years. The visit coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
PM Shehbaz and President Muizzu witnessed the signing ceremony as representatives of the two sides exchanged the documents. PM Shehbaz, while addressing a joint presser with the visiting dignitary on the occasion, said efforts to increase bilateral trade would be accelerated, adding that Pakistan would provide technical assistance to the Maldives in the information technology sector.
The MoUs and agreement cover defence, information technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, health, education, social protection, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, maritime security and several other areas of bilateral cooperation. Later, addressing a joint media stakeout along with visiting Maldivian President Muizzu, Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed serious concern over India's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, stressing that legally binding international agreements must be respected and shared water resources should never be weaponised or used as a tool of political pressure.
He maintained that water is a lifeline for humanity and more so for lower riparian states, and that any violation in this regard would be regarded by Pakistan as an act of war. He reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir remained an internationally recognised dispute.
Shehbaz said that the existing trade volume represented only a fraction of the economic potential of the two brotherly countries. "We have agreed to increase the volume of bilateral trade from around $13.9 million to $200 million within the next two years." The premier also held restricted and delegation-level talks with Dr Mohamed Muizzu at the Prime Minister House where the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international developments.
Shehbaz said the 20 MoUs and agreements pertain to important areas of bilateral cooperation and assured that he would personally work with the Maldivian president to ensure their timely implementation. He said the two sides had held productive discussions on trade, investment, strategic defence cooperation, education, health, policing and capacity building, besides exchanging views on regional and international issues.
The prime minister announced that Pakistan would provide 100,000 olive cuttings and 100,000 seeds of different plant species to support the Maldives' initiative to plant five million trees. He also offered Pakistan's technical expertise to the Maldives in various fields, including information technology and the establishment of data centres.
President Muizzu thanked the Pakistani leadership and people for their warm hospitality, saying the visit offered an opportunity to build a new era of partnership on the foundations of six decades of friendship. Earlier, the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) conferred an honorary doctorate in Politics and International Relations on President Muizzu.