Islamabad lauds Egypt as cornerstone of stability for Mideast, Islamic world
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi signaled Sunday Egypt’s desire to push its co-operation with Pakistan forward and increase the exchange of expertise with the southeast Asian country in all fields.
During a meeting in Cairo with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistani army, Gen Nadeem Raza, President Sisi expressed Egypt’s keenness on boosting coordination and consultation with Pakistan on all regional issue of mutual concern, on top of which the fight against terrorism and extremist thinking.
Terrorism and extremism, the president said, are the most important challenges facing the world.
This is why it is important to join hands to spread a correct religious understanding and promote tolerance and co-existence, President Sisi said, noting in this context Egypt’s estimation of the role of Pakistan as a central state in the region.
Discussions between President Sisi and Gen. Nadeem Raza focused on means of enhancing co-operation in a number of fields, especially the military and security fields, Presidency Spokesman, Ambassador Bassam Radi, said.
He added that the talks also focused on the exchange of visits at the level of senior commanders in both countries as well as on the regular convening of the Joint Defense Committee of the two countries.
President Sisi and Gen. Nadeem Raza also discussed co-operation in the fields of defense and military industries as well as joint exercises, the latest of which was the Guardians of the Sky I.
The president and the Pakistani commander then reviewed latest developments in the Middle East region and the Islamic world, Ambassador Radi said.
They agreed on the importance of maintaining coordination between the two countries, boosting joint efforts to maintain regional and international peace and security, and fighting terrorism and extremism, the Presidency spokesman added.
Gen. Nadeem Raza, for his part, referred to the profound nature of relations between Cairo and Islamabad.
He said his country looked forward to exploring new horizons for fruitful co-operation with Egypt.
Egypt’s stability, he said, is a cornerstone of regional stability and the stability of the Islamic world.
The Pakistani commander also praised as inspiring the Egyptian model in all development fields.
Egypt, he said, acts wisely in its regional vicinity, being a pole of balanced policies in the region as so was manifest recently in Egypt’s success to bring about a ceasefire between the Palestinians and the Israelis and launch a reconstruction process for the Gaza Strip, Gen. Nadeem Raza said.
