ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: Ambassador of Kazakhstan Beibit Issabayev launched two books - one authored by President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the second written by his Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokayev - on the occasion of the Constitution Day of his country which was celebrated here on Monday.
Mr Issabayev said the Urdu translation of The Critical Decade written by the Kazakh president and the foreign minister's Meeting the Challenge had been published in Pakistan and would be donated to a number of institutions including public libraries.
Speaking at a news conference at the embassy, Issabayev said the second constitution of his country was adopted on August 30, 1995. He said the constitution legalised historically-settled values of the society and guaranteed fundamental rights and freedom of human beings.
"All functionaries of the state have to work in accordance with the constitution," he said, adding measures were afoot to gradually pass on more powers to parliament.
The ambassador said election for 77 members of the lower house called Majlis Oly would be held on September 19. He said 200 observers and journalists, including those from Pakistan, had been invited on the occasion.
He said his country's relations with Pakistan were excellent as the two countries shared the bonds of the same religion and affinity of culture. The bilateral relations have been enriched with mutual state visit by the two heads of states to each other's country.
The volume of trade between Kazakhstan and Pakistan has increased to the tune of $12 million which, he said, was up by $5.5 million from what it was six years ago. The Kazakh ambassador said Kashmir dispute should be resolved peacefully according to the international laws.
About the book Critical Decade, he said it depicted the whole range of the threats to the statehood of his country and how these threats were averted and steps needed to take to further keep peaceful atmosphere in the country. It also touches upon the problems of security as well issues of collective security and international terrorism. The author writes: Peacekeeping is not simply the suppression of conflict, destruction of an aggressor or compulsion to pacifism. It is a system of preventive measures, owing to which the conflict becomes either impossible or unlikely.
The ambassador said Meeting the Challenge had been written by a career diplomat, Kassymzhomart Tokayev, who is proficient in Chinese, English, French and his own country's language.
It is an autobiographical book in which geopolitical problems which he faced during his career have been touched upon. In the book, the minister spotlights his country's relations with China, USA and Russia as well as the expanding foreign policy of Kazakhstan with relations to the formation of a regional grouping, in which Pakistan is also included.
