Islamabad: Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced here yesterday 24 million Australian dollars (Dh70 million) in assistance for Pakistan.
She told journalists that, out of the assistance, A$19.9 million will be for facilitating regional trade and investment as well as for rehabilitation of the country’s border areas damaged by floods and conflict.
Australia attaches great importance to its relations with Pakistan, she said after detailed talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s adviser on foreign affairs and national security Sartaj Aziz.
“We have long been friends and want to diversify cooperation in different fields,” she said, adding that her country has long standing defence relations with Pakistan.
‘Common interests’
Bishop added the two countries “have common interests in countering transnational crimes including drug- and human-smuggling”.
Thousands of ethnic Hazaras have in recent years fled the southwestern province of Baluchistan bound for Australia, which in 2013 introduced a military-led operation to turn back boats carrying asylum-seekers before they reach the continent.
Bishop said she would also encourage Australian tourism to Pakistan, which has been battling a home-grown Islamist insurgency for over a decade.
“People-to-people links are important and of course we want to see Pakistan as a safe and secure environment so that you can engage international visitors,” she said.
Aziz said at the joint news conference with Julie Bishop that Pakistan has sought greater access for its products to Australian market.
— With inputs from AFP
