ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: The ambassador of Romania, Prof Dr Emil Ghitulescu said on Saturday that Pakistan and Romania would be joining hands to participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

He was speaking at a Press conference here on Saturday to announce Romania’s historic accession to NATO that has been its key foreign policy priority.

Referring to the NATO Summit at Prague on November 21, where Romania was invited to join the 19-member North Atlantic Alliance, Mr Ghitulescu said: “Romania’s accession to NATO represents the integration of my country in the most successful defence alliance in history.”

The invitation for Romania is the crowning of all its efforts, the ambassador said, adding that it will give a special colour to Romania’s celebration of its National Day on December 1.

He said the invitation to full membership of NATO year May 2004 represented the beginning of a long road of reforms and transformations for Romania.

The ambassador, a former journalist and a professor of comparative literature, said after more than a decade of freedom Romania had established a functioning democracy. “Romania has come a long way in building a functional and efficient market economy. We missed opportunities, but we have also learned important lessons,” he observed.

Ambassadors of Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, charge d’ affairs of Poland and Bulgaria also joined the Romanian ambassador on the occasion as token of their friendship with him. Mr Ghitulescu specially thanked all of them for their show of solidarity.

He also mentioned the friendly ties Pakistan and Romania enjoy, hoping that they remain strong and vigorous. He also pointed to the enormous potential for the two countries to grow together and diversify ties between them.

The ambassador said he had briefly discussed the expansion of ties with the new foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, after the oath-taking ceremony at the Awan-i-Sadar on Saturday morning. He said he also discussed issues relating to bilateral economic ties between the two countries in a meeting with the PML-Q leader, Shujaat Hussain. Information Technology, textiles and agriculture were areas in which there was tremendous scope for the two countries to cooperate, the ambassador maintained. However, he underlined the need for Pakistani businessmen to be more aggressive.

He said he was working on establishment of a friendly parliamentarian group in Islamabad just as there was one in Bucharest.

On the issue of Kashmir, he said Romania’s position was that there should be a peaceful solution to the problem. That Pakistan and India should resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute through negotiations.

Ambassador Emil, who has authored two books on Allama Iqbal, said he would soon be launching a third book based on his essays on Pakistan. An ardent admirer of Allama Iqbal, he said he had also proposed to name two squares or streets in the capital of Romania after Pakistan’s national poet, Allama Iqbal.