Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari conferred Country's highest civil award the Nishan-e-Pakistan on Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at a special ceremony at the President House in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif senior government and military officials and parliamentary leaders attended the investiture marking a visit of special significance as Pakistan and Indonesia celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties this year.
During his two day official visit President Subianto held delegation level talks with PM Shehbaz President Zardari and top military leaders reviewing the full spectrum of bilateral relations. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation across political economic security defence cultural educational scientific technological and health sectors.
On the economic front the leaders noted that bilateral trade has doubled since 2014 surpassing four billion dollars and agreed to upgrade the existing trade framework to a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by 2027. They discussed expanding cooperation in traditional goods like palm oil pharmaceuticals and surgical instruments as well as services including IT cyber security fintech and digital connectivity.
Defence and security collaboration was emphasised including high level military exchanges training programmes maritime and aviation cooperation and joint efforts to counter terrorism extremism and illicit drug trafficking.
The two sides also committed to enhanced cooperation in health disaster management climate resilience sustainable tourism and humanitarian support including backing a just peace for Palestine and support for the Gaza Peace Plan.
Several agreements and MoUs were signed to strengthen existing bilateral mechanisms with both leaders underlining the importance of high level exchanges inter parliamentary dialogue and closer people to people ties.
President Subianto expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality extended by Pakistan describing the visit as a step forward in deepening an already historic partnership.
