P a k - Q a t a r r e l a t i o n s

August 2022 when the host country was making historically hectic preparations for hosting FIFA World Cup 2022 during which Pakistan Army contingent provided security assistance and in which footballs manufactured by sports goods manufacturers of Sialkot were officially used to the great appreciation of all participating teams besides the host country

This was indeed a matter of honor and pride for the people of Pakistan

The prime minister had paid his first visit to Qatar at the invitation of emir of Qatar Sheikh hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and the two leaders had an in depth meeting in which they exchanged views of matters of bilateral, regional and international concerns and issues and measures to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two brother countries for their mutual benefit

Shehbaz Sharif and expressed his keen interest in enhancing economic ties between the two brotherly countries On the occasion the visiting Pakistani leader invited the emir of Qatar to visit Pakistan at the earliest on his convenience The host ruler of Qatar accepted the invitation with great pleasure

Addressing the Conference PM Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was committed to implement Doha Programme of Action considering it as an opportunity for accelerating sustainable prosperity in the least developed countries partnership of the LDCs with the developed nations as well with the private sector and civil society was quite significant for global; prosperity at large

Hancement Of Economic Cooperation In Diverse Fields Of Mutual Interest

atlantic council a h M e d a b o u d o u h

Ch I N e S e ambitions to me- diate between Saudi Arabia and Iran are not new Chinese five-point plans flaunted by senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi two years ago, set out a Chinese vision for regional security and revealed a glimpse into Beijing s objective to become a regional actor For China the agreement solidi-

The second visit took place in the first week of March 2023 The prime minister visited Qatar to attend the 5th UN World Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC) at the invitation of emir of Qatar Tamim bin hamad Al Thani who was host to the international moot

The prime minister held fruitful and productive meeting with emir of Qatar on the sidelines of the 5th UN least Developed Countries Conference in Doha The prime minister told the host emir of Qatar that Qatar ’s support for Pakistan uplift initiatives is duly valued and appreciated by the people as well as the government of Pakistan

The two leaders held free and frank talks on a wide r a n g e o f i s s u e s a n d d i s c u s s e d w a y s t o f u r t h e r e nhance excellent cooperation in economic and investment areas The emir of Qatar on his part welcomed PM

During his stay in Doha the prime minister also held a fruitful meeting with Chief executive Officer (CeO) of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Mansoor ebrahim AlMahmoud On the occasion various proposals were discussed relating to different sectors of Pakistan’s economy The CeO of QIA expressed his keen interest for his country s investment in LNG power plants, airports and power parks in Pakistan This was the second meeting between the two, the first one was held during the PM s first visit to Qatar It is worth mentioning here that the relations between the two brotherly countries have over the years seen a steady and positive upward trajectory Following the prime minister ’s two visits to the Gulf state the two countries now apparently are keen to transform these historical and fraternal bilateral relations into a more robust strategic relationship through the en-

Over the years, Qatar has been extending multifield support and assistance to Pakistan in an unrelenting manner Both the countries have a rich history of mutual cooperation in the bilateral domain as well as on multilateral forms ties between Pakistan and Qatar were rooted deeply in the shared faith mutual understanding and convergence of interests Relationship between the two brotherly countries, to say the least, is quite appreciably based on mutual trust and shared goal of achieving prosperity for their people have had excellent cooperation in various fields including energy, manpower export and people to people linkages in the past and quite obviously there was great potential as well as opportunities for transforming these into more robust and mutually beneficial partnership by exploring new ventures of cooperation in sectors like renewable energy food security industrial and infrastructure development and hospitality besides striking another deal for lengthy for supply of LNG at affordable prices as Qatar has huge reserves of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) following the prime minister s two visits to Qatar in just eight months

There is a lot more which can be said about the most brotherly and mutually beneficial relations between Qatar and Pakistan and frequent exchange of contacts at the highest level of emir of Qatar and Prime Minister of Pakistan but for want of space these would be dilated upon some other time please

The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist, Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News) Radio Pakistan Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail com