ISLAMABAD, Wednesday, July 23, 2025 : Senate Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to strengthening fraternal ties with Nepal, emphasizing shared cultural heritage, mutual respect, and the need to unlock untapped potential in trade, tourism, and regional cooperation.<\/p>\n
He made these remarks during a meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador of Nepal to Pakistan, Rita Dhital, at the Parliament House. Welcoming the ambassador, Gilani extended best wishes for her diplomatic assignment and expressed hope for enhanced bilateral engagement during her tenure.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan greatly values its historic and friendly relations with Nepal, and high-level exchanges are key to deepening our partnership,\u201d the chairman noted, underlining the importance of increasing such interactions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Gilani acknowledged that the current trade volume of USD 6.47 million (2024\u201325) falls short of the goodwill and potential that exists between the two countries. He called for concerted efforts to boost economic collaboration.<\/p>\n
Highlighting defense cooperation, Gilani appreciated Nepal\u2019s growing engagement with Pakistan\u2019s military training institutions. He noted that of the 101 training slots offered by Pakistan, 31 had already been utilized by Nepali armed forces.<\/p>\n
On educational ties, he emphasized the continued support under the Pakistan Technical Assistance Programme (PTAP), which annually awards 25 scholarships to Nepali students.<\/p>\n
The Senate chairman also pointed to the shared Buddhist heritage as a bridge for religious tourism, proposing stronger linkages between historic sites like Taxila in Pakistan and Lumbini in Nepal. \u201cThere is enormous potential in transforming these cultural and religious connections into meaningful people-to-people exchanges,\u201d he said, while inviting Nepali citizens to explore Pakistan\u2019s Buddhist sites.<\/p>\n
Addressing the global climate crisis, Gilani emphasized the need for joint action and collaboration at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels, acknowledging the climate challenges faced by both countries.<\/p>\n
Reiterating Pakistan\u2019s commitment to regional cooperation, he called for the revitalization of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), appreciating Nepal\u2019s role as its current chair and host. \u201cWe hope to see SAARC regain its full momentum in the near future,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Dhital thanked the Chairman for the warm welcome and agreed with his views on enhancing cooperation across multiple sectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Wednesday, July 23, 2025 : Senate Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to strengthening fraternal ties with Nepal, emphasizing shared cultural heritage, mutual respect, and the need to unlock untapped potential in trade, tourism, and regional cooperation. He made these remarks during a meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-diplomacy","category-south-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thediplomat.com.pk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}