ISLAMABAD, July 27: Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury called on Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri here on Sunday.

Mr Mobin exchanged views with Kasuri on bilateral relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern including the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) summit meeting.

The Bangladeshi official informed Mr Kasuri that he held fruitful discussions with the foreign secretary during the first round of bilateral consultations.

He said the next round of consultations would be held in Dhaka in 2004 on mutually agreed dates. The foreign minister expressed satisfaction at the existing level of bilateral cooperation and emphasized the need to further improve bilateral trade and economic cooperation for mutual benefit of the two countries.

He said conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement would provide the required impetus to our trade relations.

Mr Kasuri hoped that experts from the two countries would meet at the earliest to discus details of the proposed FTA.

He said both the countries should intensify cooperation in the educational and cultural fields and emphasized on enhanced people to people contacts as laid down in bilateral Cultural Exchange Programme.

IRANIAN ENVOY: Acting ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Reza Allaei on Saturday evening called on the Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid-i-Azam president, Chaudhry Shujat Hussain, at the latter’s residence.—APP