ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi asked Pakistan's Ambassador-designate to Ethiopia to foster trade and economic linkages with Ethiopia by facilitating and enhancing interactions between business communities of two countries. 

He urged Ambassador to work towards increasing trade volume with Ethiopia by reaching out to their businesspersons for import of Pakistani products. Talking to Pakistan's Ambassador-designate to Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Mian Atif Sharif who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Secretariat Press Wing said in press release he said that Pakistan-Ethiopia bilateral ties were marked by common history, interests and support for each other on various international fora.

He said that bilateral relations between two countries needed to be further cemented by taking mutual trade volume to its fullest potential. President called for enhancing cooperation in field of education and people-to-people contacts, adding that students in Ethiopia could benefit from online/video educational materials/courses of Virtual University of Pakistan and Allama Iqbal Open University to enhance their skill sets. He said that Pakistan's offer of training young Ethiopian diplomats at Foreign Service Academy and scholarships for banking courses would further help improve bilateral ties with Ethiopia.

He asked Ambassador to create awareness in Ethiopia about rising tide of Islamophobia in world and need for collective efforts to promote inter-faith harmony and mutual respect.

He urged newly-appointed envoy to highlight human rights violations and atrocities being committed by India in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as well as maltreatment of minorities in India.