ISLAMABAD, June 15: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived here on Sunday on his first official visit to Pakistan, has underlined the need for stronger economic ties between the two countries.

“We would like to establish a stronger economic partnership with Pakistan,” Prime Minister Erdogan stated while speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali at the Prime Minister’s House on Sunday evening.

The Turkish prime minister said the proof of his commitment on this front was his current visit to Pakistan with 107-member delegation comprising businessmen, key ministers and members of parliament.

He described his talks with Prime Minister Jamali as “very meaningful” and said important steps were taken during their one-on-one meeting for enhancing bilateral cooperation.

He said during his meeting with Prime Minister Jamali the economic, trade, cultural and social relations were evaluated and the steps to further promote these relations were discussed.

Turkey was keen on expanding cooperation in all the fields, particularly in construction dams, defence and agriculture, Mr Erdogan said. He observed that cooperation on political issues between the two countries was “perfect”.

To keep the channels of communication open at the highest-level, the two prime ministers agreed to hold an inter-prime ministerial meeting every year in Islamabad and Istanbul alternately, and to establish a direct contact at the deputy prime minister-level to strengthen links at both the government and the private level.

Mr Erdogan said both sides were keen to enhance trade volume between the two countries that stood at around $156 million a year on the average.

He said the question of increasing the number of flights between the two countries was also discussed and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali gave instructions for negotiations.

Mr Erdogan said Turkey considered Pakistan a “very important country” for the security and stability of the region.

Acknowledging Pakistan’s key role in countering terrorism and dealing with extremist movements, he said Turkey was appreciative of it. He also lauded steps taken by Pakistan towards restoration of democracy.

The Turkish prime minister welcomed the recent reconciliatory moves made by Pakistan and India. He hoped the peace process would lead to a substantive dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries.

He said Turkey favoured a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute within the international framework.

“We are in favour of a fair settlement of the Kashmir dispute and a settlement based on force will never be acceptable to us,” Mr Erdogan added.

Noting that Pakistan and Turkey have stood by each other in the international arena, he maintained that this cooperation would become stronger in the future.

“We are determined to continue this cooperation in the international and regional forum like UN and OIC,” the Turkish prime minister said.

He said he had invited Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali to visit Turkey and the latter had accepted the invitation. Mr Erdogan said he would also extend an invitation to President Musharraf when he meets him on Monday.

“I will tell him (President Musharraf) that we hope to see him before the end of this year,” he said.

In response to a question, the Turkish prime minister said Turkey would welcome deployment of Pakistani troops in Iraq for peacekeeping, saying such a move by Pakistan under the aegis of the UN would satisfy Turkey.

“The territorial integrity of Iraq must be respected and the natural resources there should only belong to the Iraqi people,” was the Turkish prime minister’s emphatic plea.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali said the talks ranged from bilateral relations to regional and international issues. He said the two sides discussed new avenues for trade and economic cooperation and signed memorandum of understanding.

He said trade and commerce, communications, science and technology, defence and education would be among the areas of future bilateral cooperation.

Mr Jamali said there was unanimity of views between him and his Turkish counterpart on Afghanistan, Iraq, Cyprus, Kashmir and the Palestine issue.

Earlier, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing of three agreements by their ministers. These agreements included, bilateral road transport; combating trafficking in narcotics, drugs and psychotropic substances; and Cooperation for protection of environment.

Prime Minister Jamali also hosted a banquet in honour of the Turkish prime minister on Sunday night.

Prime Minister Recep Erdogan arrived here with a 200 plus strong entourage that includes his cabinet members, parliamentarians, businessmen and a large media team.