ISLAMABAD: Austra­lian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced on Wednesday an assistance package of about $16 million for reconstruction projects in Pakistan’s areas affected by militancy and floods, and to support a trade initiative.

The announcement was made by Foreign Minister Bishop at a press conference also attended by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz.

In their talks earlier, Ms Bishop and Mr Aziz focussed on strengthening trade and investment relations in addition to forging cooperation in other spheres like counter-terrorism and transnational crimes.

The Australian minister also renewed an invitation for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Canberra. Mr Sharif is expected to travel to Australia later this year.

At the press conference, Ms Bishop said there were many opportunities for Pakistan and Australia to expand trade relations. She said the two countries “have common interests in countering transnational crimes, including drug and human smuggling”.

Answering a question, she said the two countries were not considering forging cooperation in nuclear technology.

Instead the two sides were talking about renewable energy sources.

The $16m assistance was part of a total aid package of approximately $20m, said Ms Bishop.

About $8m will be spent on restoring damaged infrastructure, supporting livelihood and improving service delivery in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Balochistan affected by flood and conflict, through the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF). Over the past five years, Australia has contributed $25m to the MDTF.

Another $8m has been pledged for a trade initiative being managed by the World Bank and Pakistan’s commerce ministry under a four-year trade and investment programme.

Ms Bishop said she discussed Pakistan’s relations with India during her meeting with Mr Aziz.

She called on India and Pakistan to resolve their disputes bilaterally as she reiterated Canberra’s neutrality on the Kashmir dispute.

COUNTER-TERRO­RISM: Pakistan and Australia agreed on enhancing cooperation in areas of immigration and border control, capacity building of law enforcement agencies and curbing transnational crimes, the interior ministry said after a meeting between Ms Bishop and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

During the meeting, Mr Khan stressed the need for cooperation in intelligence sharing, disrupting international movement of terrorists, choking terrorists’ financing, and harmonising legal responses to transnational crimes.

He also underscored the need for early ratification of an extradition treaty by the two countries.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2015

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