Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held a bilateral meeting in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmoud Qureshi. The meeting took place on Saturday, on the sidelines of an extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The parties analyzed the state of interstate relations and expressed satisfaction with the expansion of cooperation, including coordination at regional and international forums.

It was noted the importance of developing trade and economic ties, the strategic basis of which is partnership in the energy sector. In this context, they discussed joint actions to promote the projects of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline, power transmission lines and fiber-optic communications along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) route.

He confirmed Pakistan's commitment to the timely completion of energy projects. Minister Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to the timely completion of energy projects, the website of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry informs.

Both foreign ministers emphasized the importance of the continued involvement of the international community in ensuring sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan, which is vital to realizing the goals of greater economic integration and regional connectivity.

Pakistan hosts an extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (OIC) in Islamabad on December 19, 2021. The session is convened on the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the chairman of the OIC summit. Pakistan welcomed the call and offered to host the session.

In addition to the OIC member states' foreign ministers and observers, the participants will also include specially invited representatives of the United Nations system, international financial institutions and some non-member countries, including the USA, Great Britain, France, China, Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan as well as the EU. The interim government of Afghanistan will also be represented.

In addition to expressing solidarity with the Afghan people, the CFM is expected to explore ways to contain and reverse the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, especially in terms of food shortage, and potential economic collapse.

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