Pakistan wants to maintain deep economic ties with India, Afghanistan: Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan is keen on maintaining its economic relations with India and Afghanistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said. Sharif made the comments on Saturday while discussing his foreign policy priorities with the visiting managing director of World Bank (WB).

The premier's comments came at a time when, despite having a strong desire to normalize trade ties with India, the efforts appeared unsuccessful due to opposition by the military establishment, the Express Tribune reports. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the MD and Chief Operating Officer of the WB, met Sharif and discussed her agency's cooperation with Pakistan.

According to the report, Indrawati urged that despite the recent surge in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves the government should stay focused on implementation of the reforms programme agreed with international lending agencies. Sharif said that due to the rational and pragmatic economic and monetary policy of the government, the economy of Pakistan has stabilized, the report added.