The President of Pakistan, His Excellency General Pervez Musharraf paid a state visit to Australia (13-16 June 2005) at the invitation of His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. During the visit he met Governor General, Major General (Retd) Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC, and the Hon. Prime Minister John Howard, MP. He also received the Leader of the Opposition of the Australian Parliament Hon. Kim C Beazley MP.
Being the first visit to Australia by a head of state from Pakistan, President Musharraf's visit is an important milestone in a bilateral relationship that today encompasses significant political, economic, security, education and cultural cooperation. President Musharraf and Prime Minister John Howard today reconfirmed the warm relations shared by Australia and Pakistan, not only at the government-to-government level but also at the people-to-people level.
President Musharraf and Prime Minister met at Parliament House today. These talks were held in a cordial atmosphere. The two leaders covered a range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest including UN reform, regional security, trade and investment and agriculture. The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the continued close cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries. It was agreed that regular bilateral consultations should be held between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia.
Pakistan and Australia are key partners in the international campaign on terror. Pakistan has played a vital role in efforts to dismantle global terrorist networks. The President and the Prime Minister agreed that international terrorism and transnational organised crime are best combated within a framework of cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Counter-Terrorism was signed in the presence of the President and the Prime Minister at Parliament House today to boost bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The MOU provides a framework for bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries. The Prime Minister and the President noted that the CT MOU will enhance the security of both Australia and Pakistan through exchanges of information and intelligence, joint training activities and capacity building initiatives.
Australia and Pakistan also signed an agreement to foster closer ties between the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, which will facilitate the exchange of information to protect investors and reduce insider trading, market manipulation and other fraudulent market-related crimes in the two respective countries.
The Prime Minister and the President also witnessed the signing of a MOU establishing an agriculture sector linkages programme between Australia and Pakistan. Under this programme, Australia will commit $6.6 million over four years to assist the development of Pakistan's agriculture industry, including through seven postgraduate AusAID scholarships in agriculture for Pakistani experts, and funding for the development of linkages and exchanges between our science and technology and agriculture institutions of the two countries. The programme will also facilitate collaborative research on agricultural issues of common interest (coordinated by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) and an Austrade-organised mission to Pakistan to explore mutually beneficial commercial and investment linkages in the agriculture sector.
The President and the Prime Minister welcomed the positive trajectory of economic and investment links between Pakistan and Australia with two-way trade in 2004 reaching $660 million.
Australian companies have made significant investments in Pakistan's resources sector with BHP Billiton the largest, holding 38.5% of shares in the Zamzama gas field in Sindh Province.
The continued effective development cooperation between Australia and Pakistan was noted by the Prime Minister and the President. They welcomed the on-going contribution to Pakistan's growth and development through such programmes as the Australian Development Scholarships, under which 40 post-graduate Pakistani students are studying in Australia. The two sides looked forward to expanding educational cooperation in the future.
Prime Minister Howard welcomed President Musharraf's personal commitment to the recent positive developments in Pakistan's relationship with India, particularly the discussions between President Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi, in which the two leaders agreed to resolve all bilateral problems.
President Musharraf extended an invitation to Prime Minister Howard to visit Pakistan, which was accepted.