After Saudi Arabia, Pakistan offers Qatar 'expansion in defence cooperation'
President Zardari also welcomes Qatar's enhanced investment in Pakistan and expresses the expectation that the bilateral collaboration will continue to grow.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has offered to "expand" defence cooperation with Qatar, as he met Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha.
Zardari on Wednesday offered to expand collaboration in defence and defence production, to which Al Thani responded positively, saying he would instruct the relevant authorities to initiate discussions immediately, according to an official statement from Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party.
Al Thani, while expressing satisfaction at Islamabad's recent defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, said it "should have happened earlier."
Pakistan holds "a unique position" as a country that has strategic ties with China and Western countries as well as the Gulf nations simultaneously, he was quoted as saying.
The two sides also discussed enhancing collaboration in agriculture and food security and reaffirmed "the historic and brotherly relations between Pakistan and Qatar".
Zardari hailed Doha's "growing global role as a centre of dialogue and humanitarian diplomacy” and paid tribute to Al Thani’s leadership in advocating a ceasefire and humanitarian relief for the people of Gaza, which was reached last month.
Zardari also welcomed Qatar's enhanced investment in Pakistan and expressed the expectation that the bilateral collaboration would continue to grow.
The Pakistani head of state also "lauded Qatar’s role in the Doha talks on Afghanistan," according to a statement by his office on X.
"Al Thani said he will visit Pakistan soon," it added.
Zardari started his three-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday to attend the World Social Development Conference.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a formal mutual defence pact in September.
The agreement reportedly states that any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.
The enhanced defence ties came after Israel attacked Qatar.
On September 9, Israel struck a residential neighbourhood in Doha, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari security official, including the son of the Palestinian resistance group’s lead negotiator, while they were meeting to discuss US President Donald Trump’s latest Gaza ceasefire proposal.