DUSHANBE, June 10, 2015, Asia-Plus – On Tuesday June 9, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was on an official two-day visit to Tajikistan.

According to the Tajik president’s official website, President Rahmon held a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, followed by delegation-level talks.

A broad range of issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Pakistan was discussed during the talks, with a view to further expansion of ties between the two countries.

Emomali Rahmon reportedly noted that versatile cooperation with Pakistan was one of the main directions of Tajikistan’s foreign policy.

The legal foundation of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Pakistan consists of more than 40 documents.

The two sides expressed satisfaction with the current level of trade and economic cooperation, stressing that a two-way trade between the two countries has increased from US$100,000 to US$100 million over the past decade and they expressed confidence that the bilateral trade will increase to US$500 million in the next three years.

They noted that intensification of activities of the intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation, promotion of expansion of ties between the business communities of the two countries, expansion of bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture and industry as well as wide use of Tajikistan’s free economic zones and Pakistan’s seaports of Karachi and Gwadar would drive the bilateral trade between the two countries.

The two sides also showed interest in early signing of the trilateral transit trade agreement between Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

They also exchange views on a number of regional and international issues being of mutual interest.