Addis Ababa, December 12, 2022 (FBC) – The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have discussed various ways to develop bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors including security and counter terrorism.
The report by the Pakistani daily newspaper, THE NATION, indicates that the bilateral cooperation on counter terrorism and security came under discussion during a meeting between Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to Pakistan, Jemal Beker Abdullah, and State Minister for Interior of Pakistan, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju.
Ambassador Jemal Beker eulogised the efforts of Pakistan against terrorism and said Ethiopia would look forward to learning from Pakistan’s experiences in counter terrorism.
He suggested developing a framework between the two countries on counter terrorism. “Our military’s technology and determination against terrorism is very high, but we still want cooperation in this sector,” he added.
The Ambassador said Ethiopia and Pakistan needed to work together closely as there were a lot of challenges in the 21st century.
He said there was a dire need to create a platform to promote south-south cooperation for betterment, progress and prosperity of our people.
“It is the only option we have in this 21st century and we have seen what happened to Pakistan in the wake of climate change that triggered flash floods in the recent past,” Ambassador Jemal maintained.
The Ambassador said he had visited the flood affectees’ camps in Sindh after the flash floods to share their pain and grief. “Pakistan will not be left alone in this climate fiasco as my government is ready to share its experiences in averting the impacts of climate change.”
Amb. Jemal recalled that the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, launched a green legacy programme which brought green revolution in his country. “We have planted 25 billion seedlings during last four years to address the climate related issues,” he added.
The Ethiopian envoy said the two countries shared similarities in many ways and heirs of the ancient civilisations. Ethiopia had a federal system like that of Pakistan and held elections after regular intervals, he added.
He said he was amazed by political dynamism of Pakistan where democracy has been flourishing gradually. “There are a lot of areas where both the countries are needed to strengthen close cooperation such as economy, security, technology transfer and others.”
On the other hand, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, the Pakistani State Minister for Interior, appreciated all rounded recent achievements of Ethiopia under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which increases the diplomatic and political leverage of Ethiopia across the globe.
The State Minister assured the Ambassador of all-out support in this regard and said the Interior Ministry and the nation of Pakistan would be delighted to extend all-out assistance to Ethiopia on counter terrorism, as per THE NATION’s report.