Uzbekistan to start Lahore-Tashkent flight

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The newly-appointed Uzbekistan ambassador to Pakistan Furkat Sidikov has said that Uzbekistan is planning to start Lahore-Tashkent flight from next year.

In a meeting with the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Senator Nuzhat Sadiq in Islamabad on Tuesday, the Uzbek ambassador said that his country is keen to improve existing relations with Pakistan.

A Tashkent-Lahore flight was suspended three year ago due to high-pitched terrorism in Pakistan, because Pakistan as well as Uzbekistan controlled visa releases to citizens of both the countries. A low passenger rate caused the end of this service that was started in the early 90s. Now the resumption of this flight will not only improve relations between the two countries but will also promote tourism.

“Pakistan and Uzbekistan enjoy excellent bilateral relations, and he was keen to improving existing ties,” Furkat Sidikov told the Senator.

Furkat Sidikov said that as a new ambassador of Uzbekistan in Islamabad, his focus in the days ahead would be on cooperation in the fields of economy and energy, especially renewable energy.

The envoy said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Uzbekistan in November is very important and will open a new page in the bilateral relations of both countries.

The Uzbek ambassador informed that the Uzbekistan embassy is working on increasing the parliamentary exchanges between the two countries.

In her remarks, Senator Nuzhat Sadiq congratulated the Uzbek envoy on his new assignment as ambassador of the Republic to Pakistan.

The Senator said that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is beneficial for the whole region and offers the shortest route to sea through its ports for Uzbek goods. She said that once peace returns to Afghanistan, Gawadar would be the nearest port for Uzbekistan. Nuzhat Sadiq was of the view that both Pakistan and Uzbekistan need to increase the tread volume.

Sources in Uzbek Air confirmed that flights will start from March 2016. Flights will be between Tashkent and Lahore. Sources said that if Tashkent-Lahore flights are successful then Uzbek Air will initiate a Islamabad-Tashkent flight.

Talking to Dispatch News Desk news agency, His Excellency the Ambassador Furkat Sidikov said that Uzbekistan and Pakistan enjoyed wonderful brotherly relations and both countries are historically very close.