Bulgaria, Pakistan See Eye to Eye on Afghanistan

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Mladenov (left) with Pakistan's top diplomat Qureshi in Islamabad. Photo by Foreign Ministry

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has made the first ever visit of a Bulgarian top diplomat to Pakistan.

"Pakistan is a friendly nation with which we want to develop economic, political, and cultural cooperation," Mladenov declared in Islamabad summarizing the importance of his visit.

The Bulgarian top diplomat and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi have declared a complete convergence of their views on the situation in Afghanistan.

Both ministers agreed that there should be guarantees that after 2014, the Afghan national army will be able to handle the security of the country.

Mladenov thanked the government of Pakistan for its efforts to stabilize the region, which come at a dear cost including human lives.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister was also welcomed by Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Gillani, who thanked Bulgaria for its relief help for the victims of the Pakistani flood that hit the country in the summer of 2010.

Gillani also praised Bulgaria's support for boosting Pakistani exports to the EU. Mladenov has also signed an agreement for economic cooperation with Pakistan, and has met with the Ambassadors of the EU countries in Islamabad to inform them of the results of his visit.

Last week Bulgaria's Cabinet approved the allocation of humanitarian aid to Pakistan, much of which was devastated by the floods that hit the country in July 2010. The aid amounts to the modest BGN 117 350 (or EUR 60 000) but is in line with the trend of providing aid as much as the government could afford since 2008, a novelty in Bulgaria whose people traditionally think of themselves as being in need of foreign aid.

The Bulgarian government said in a statement its aid is supposed to help Pakistan with overcoming the consequences of the July 2010 flood which killed 1 600 people, left some 15-20 million people homeless, destroyed their crops and damaged their access to drinking water.

"Providing humanitarian aid is a gesture of friendship and solidarity with the suffering people of Pakistan. It is in accordance with Bulgaria's policies of commitment to international cooperation on development aid, which is an invariable part of providing humanitarian assistance," the Cabinet press service said.

In a statement on Monday, the Foreign Ministry reminded that in the fall of 2010 Minister Mladenov together with the Bulgarian Red Cross initiated a campaign to raise funds for the victims of the Pakistani flood.