Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said the sustained high-level exchanges between Pakistan and the European Union was vital to further strengthen the growing partnership.

The prime minister, in a meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan Dr. Riina Kionka who called on him here, said that Pakistan attached high importance to its relations with the EU as well as its historically close and cooperative bilateral ties with EU member states.

Recalling his recent telephone conversations with the EU Council President Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the prime minister expressed confidence that the upcoming visits to Pakistan by the EU Parliamentary delegations as well as the next rounds of political and security dialogues under EU-Pakistan Strategic Engagement Plan would pave the way for more substantive cooperation between the two sides.

He credited the current GSP Plus scheme with enhancing the mutually beneficial trading ties between Pakistan and EU and hoped that Pakistan would continue to be part of the arrangement beyond 2023.

Noting the 60th anniversary of Pakistan-EU relations this year, the prime minister stressed that this milestone should be commemorated by both sides in a fitting manner. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed the importance of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. He also highlighted the unprecedented level of cooperation that Pakistan had extended to the international community in regard to Afghanistan, especially since the developments of August last year.

Dr. Riina Kionka thanked the prime minister for receiving her and expressed her resolve to work for further deepening of EU-Pakistan relations during her tenure in Islamabad.

Islamabad: Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has said that Pakistan and Denmark enjoy a friendly and cordial relationship, and there is a lot of potentials to enhance the relationship between both nations.

He was talking to Danish Ambassador, Lis Rosenholm in Islamabad after the signing of an inter-governmental framework agreement to enhance financial cooperation in the energy and water sector.

Under the agreement, interest-free loans will be extended for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and water supply and waste-water treatment sectors.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq told the ambassador that efforts to revive bilateral economic and development cooperation are underway with Denmark, agreeing to provide budget support to the Government of Pakistan through Inter-Governmental Framework Agreement.  

Hyderabad: The death toll from a gas leakage blast at Hyderabad’s Pathan Colony a few days ago climbed to 5 on Thursday.

According to the details, the incident took place a few days ago women forgot to turn off the gas at night and in the morning an explosion occurred when the stove was lit in the kitchen.

The injured were under treatment at a hospital in Karachi. 

Those who lost their lives in the incident were 65-year-old Ratan, 60-year-old Sawatri, their young daughter, and another person.