Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and New Zealand Minister for Trade and Defence Phil Goff have discussed matters of bilateral interests including ways and means of strengthening cooperation, regional situation with particular reference to Afghanistan, said an official statement. They also discussed cooperation between the two countries particularly in the fields of agriculture and education. Kasuri briefed him about the situation in Afghanistan noting that a peaceful, stable Afghanistan was in Pakistan's own interest. Goff informed Kasuri of the New Zealand's military personnel in Bamyan, Afghanistan, who are attached with the provincial reconstruction programme. Kasuri appraised him about the progress in composite dialogue with India aimed at addressing all outstanding issues including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The statement said Pakistan and New Zealand relations are strengthening as a result of President Pervez Musharraf's visit to New Zealand in June 2005. Pakistan has recently opened its High Commission (embassy) in New Zealand.
