PM concerned over Pak community’s safety in Bahrain
ISLAMABAD, Mar 29 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday expressed concerns over the security of Pakistani community in Bahrain and urged the government of Bahrain to pay special attention to them in crisis.Talking to Shaikh Khaled Bin Ahmed Mohamed Al-Khalifa, Foreign Minister of Bahrain at the PM House, the Prime Minister said Pakistan was deeply concerned over the situation developing in North Africa, Middle East and other parts of the Islamic Arab world.He said the situation could be extremely detrimental to the overall interests of stability, order and peace of the Islamic Ummah.
He conveyed his government’s sincere sentiments of goodwill for the continued stability, peace and prosperity of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He thanked the Bahraini Foreign Minister for personally paying a visit to Pakistan’s Embassy to meet the community leaders.
Gilani said Pakistan’s position on this matter was based on the universally recognized principles of respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states, as well as non-intervention and non-interference. 
Pakistan, he said, supports and believes in maintaining good neighbourly relations. 
The Prime Minister stated that Pakistan was fully cognizant of the present difficulties that Bahrain faces but was confident that the government and people of Bahrain will be able to overcome all difficulties in a grand spirit of national community and reconciliation.
The Prime Minister noted that the new Secretary General from Bahrain will be taking over the affairs of Gulf Cooperation Council and hoped that during his tenure, the recently initiated strategic dialogue between Pakistan and GCC will be fast tracked and the initiatives on the Free Trade Agreement between the two sides will be initiated.
The Prime Minister underlined the need for strengthening of close fraternal ties between Pakistan and Bahrain by exploiting the immense potential to enhance their cooperation in multi-faceted fields. 
He emphasized on providing further impetus to the bilateral cooperation as despite the immense goodwill so far, the relations had not received the desired focus and attention particularly in trade, economic and investment fields. 
The Prime Minister asked the Bahraini Foreign Minister to convey his personal regards to the King of Bahrain and best wishes for the peace and stability in Bahrain.
The Foreign Minister of Bahrain thanked the Prime Minister for his government’s complete support and expressions of solidarity. He assured the Prime Minister that security and safety of the Pakistani community in Bahrain was the top priority of his government and his government will do its utmost to ensure that. 
He expressed his satisfaction on the on-going cooperation between Pakistan and Bahrain in the defence fields and stated that his country would be undertaking the required measures to take the economic ties between the two sides to the new heights.
The Ambassador of Bahrain Rashid Saad Dhaffer Ali Doseri, Minister for Interior Rehman Malik, Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Secretary Foreign Affairs and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.