ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq met Iraqi Prime Minister Dr Haider Al Ebadi in Baghdad on Tuesday and called for expanding cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

According to a press release, Mr Ebadi praised the people of Pakistan for their unparalleled sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

He said Iraq could understand the plight of the Pakistanis because people there had been facing the extremism and onslaught of the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

The two leaders agreed on the need to expand cooperation in defence, industry, trade, agriculture, human resources, communications, aviation and intelligence sharing. Mr Sadiq said Pakistan could provide skilled manpower to Iraq in the services sector.

Mr Al Ebadi praised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for improving relations with Afghanistan, and particularly the peace initiative Pakistan had taken regarding the Saudi-Iran standoff.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2016