Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - His Majesty King Abdullah II held here on Friday talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on bilateral ties and ways of further developing these in various fields.

Talks also touched on the latest developments in the Middle East and international arena.

During the talks, held in the presence of the Crown Prince His Royal Highness Prince El Hussein Bin Abdullah, the King expressed his thanks and appreciation for the Kazakh president for the warm reception and hospitality. He underlined the opportunities to develop relations between the two countries at various levels, including the cultural ones.

Further, His Majesty voiced hope to build on these discussions to translate the shared visions on the ground in order to achieve a prosperous future for the peoples of the two countries, while pointing to the need to activate the work of the Jordanian-Kazakh joint committee to boost cooperation between the two countries.

The two leaders held a one-on-one meeting, before they were joined by top aides, where they stressed the need for closer cooperation, especially in the fields of energy, agriculture, pharmaceutical and food industries, tourism and construction.

The extended talks were held over a luncheon in honor of His Majesty the King, the Crown Prince and the accompanying delegation.

His Majesty the King spoke about Jordan's location, noting that the Kingdom is a gateway to the Middle East. Jordan, he added, enjoys the advantage of security and stability and a qualified and trained workforce.

The King also stressed the need to benefit from the incentives provided to investors and to enhance the economic partnership between Jordan and Kazakhstan, noting the private sector role in this regard.

King Abdullah stressed the importance of "working and cooperating together, and through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to promote interfaith initiatives, and fight extremism by deploying and consolidating the values ??of moderation and tolerance." "Our efforts will strengthen the endeavor of the Islamic world in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and Central Asia." On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, His Majesty expressed his appreciation for Kazakhstan’s support to Jordan's efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution and the relevant international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. He also expressed appreciation for the central Asian nation for helping with the relief efforts for Syrian refugees in the Kingdom.

Further, the King underlined the efforts exerted by Jordan to protect the city of Jerusalem and preserve the Islamic and Christian holy sites there, in the face of Israeli measures and practices that target these holy shrines and aim to change the identity of the city.

On Syria, His Majesty reiterated Jordan's position in support of a comprehensive political solution to the crisis that ends the suffering of the Syrian people and preserves the territorial unity of Syria and its people.

He also spoke about the burdens being borne by Jordan because of the continuous influx of the Syrian refugees and the increasing pressure on its resources. This reality requires support from the international community to enable Jordan to continue to provide humanitarian services to the refugees.

For his part, the Kazakh President welcomed His Majesty the King. He voiced the hope that this visit would contribute to developing relations "between the two countries and the two brotherly peoples." President Nazarbayev also expressed his appreciation for the efforts exerted by King Abdullah to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East and to provide assistance and shelters to Syrian refugees. He affirmed that his country would continue to support Jordan in this regard.

His Majesty the King, accompanied by the Crown Prince, visited the ‘His Majesty King Hussein Bin Talal Street’ in the capital, Astana, which was named after the late King Hussein in honor of his achievements in support of Islamic causes.

*Petra