Uzbek president sent condolence messages over earthquake in Pakistan

Uzbek president sent condolence messages over earthquake in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, His Excellency Islam Karimov has sent a letter of condolences to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan.

In two separate messages, he expressed his condolences with President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif over the tragic earthquake that hit Pakistan on October 26, 2015.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov has expressed his deep sympathy and support for the friendly people of Pakistan and for the families of victims, wishing them patience and strength of spirit.

It may be mentioned that Pakistan earthquake death toll rises to 360. Maximum number of deaths was reported from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Over 15,000 people have been reported displaced, injured and hospitalized in various hospitals over the country. KPK/FATA: Chitral, Peshawar, Bajaur, Shangla and Malakand Division are major areas from where reports are arriving about serious damages.

It may be mentioned that 7.5 magnitude earthquake jolted Pakistan while epicenter was Alaqahdari Afghanistan and depth of earthquake was 212 km inside earth therefore it was deep earthquake and did not cause extreme damage comparing to any shallow earthquake. The location of epicenter was 36.441°N 70.717°E depth=212.5 km (132.1 mi).

Pakistan and Uzbekistan enjoy close diplomatic relations and Prime Minister of Pakistan is visiting Uzbekistan in second week of November 2015. Uzbekistan is historically close to Islamabad and Pakistan was the first country out of CIS countries to start flights to Tashkent and thousands of tourists used to travel to and from Uzbekistan. However, flights were suspended three years ago due to fewer passengers.

There are possible of signing of different MoUs during the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif to Tashkent including resumption of flights between the two countries.  Both countries are going to sign MoUs for enhancing trade and tourism.