Ethiopia and Pakistan Agree to Strengthen Parliamentary Ties

Ethiopia and Pakistan have taken a significant step toward deepening their bilateral relationship, agreeing on Friday to establish a strong parliamentary bond aimed at expanding cooperation across trade, investment, agriculture, aviation, and cultural exchange.

The commitment emerged from a high-level meeting held in Islamabad between H.E. Dr. Oumer Hussien Oba, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and H.E. Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. The two sides conducted a wide-ranging review of the current state of bilateral relations and identified new areas for joint engagement.

Ambassador Dr. Oumer underscored the depth and longevity of ties between the two nations, pointing to their shared history, cultural values, and mutual respect. He drew particular attention to Ethiopia’s strategic role as the permanent home of the African Union, describing the country as “a vital gateway to the African continent” and noting that Pakistan stands to substantially expand its presence across Africa by leveraging its relationship with Addis Ababa.

Senate Chairman Gilani, for his part, commended Ethiopia’s remarkable pace of economic development and the scope of domestic reforms underway across the country. He stressed that cultural exchanges and religious tourism must serve as “essential foundations” for the bilateral relationship, particularly in building deeper people-to-people connections between the two nations.

On the economic front, Gilani highlighted Pakistan’s significant agricultural capacity and called for the exchange of technical knowledge and expertise to advance shared development goals, particularly within the broader framework of Global South cooperation.

As the meeting drew to a close, both sides formalised their intent to establish parliamentary friendship groups and to facilitate the exchange of parliamentary delegations — mechanisms designed to strengthen institutional links and embed the bilateral relationship within formal diplomatic structures.

The meeting reflects a broader diplomatic momentum between the two nations, with both governments signalling readiness to translate goodwill into concrete cooperation across multiple sectors in the months ahead.