Opening Remarks for the Press Briefing by Spokesperson on 23 February 2023
Foreign Minister has just completed a 2-day visit to Hungary from 21-22 February, where he held detailed talks with his counterpart Peter Szijjarto. The two Foreign Ministers discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and exchanged views on important regional and global issues. They agreed to further strengthen bilateral ties and explore new avenues of cooperation. Three MoUs were signed during the visit: on Cooperation between the Foreign Service Academies of the two countries; on Sports & Sports Education; and on enhancing scholarship program for Pakistani students in Hungarian universities. With today’s signing of the MoU, number of annual scholarships for Pakistani students in universities in Hungary will be doubled.
At the special invitation of the Foreign Minister of Hungary, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed the Annual Conference of the Heads of Missions of Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade. In his speech, the Foreign Minister highlighted the historical ties between the two countries and shared Pakistan’s perspective on key regional and global issues.
This was the first ever Foreign Minister-level visit from Pakistan to Hungary.
The Foreign Minister also undertook a visit to Germany and Lithuania. In Germany, he attended the Munich Security Dialogue-2023 from 16-20 February. He participated in several sessions and round table discussions including a panel discussion on Afghanistan. In these interactions, the Foreign Minister presented Pakistan’s perspective on a range of global and regional security challenges. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Dialogue, the Foreign Minister held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Finland, Germany, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Malta, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine. He held important consultations with Politburo Member of the CPC Central Committee & Director of Central Foreign Affairs Commission of China, Mr. Wang Yi, and Vice-President of the EU Commission.
The Foreign Minister also visited Lithuania from 20-21 February. He held meetings with Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis and Minister of Transport and Communications, Marius Skuodis. He visited the Parliament of Lithuania and called on Speaker, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen. During the visit, MoU on establishment of Bilateral Political Consultations between the governments of Pakistan and Lithuania was signed. This was the first ever Foreign Minister-level visit from Pakistan to Lithuania. Yesterday, Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif led a high-level delegation to Kabul. The delegation held meetings with the senior leadership of the Afghan Interim Government including Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar Akhund, Defence Minister Mawlavi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The growing threat of terrorism in the region, particularly by TTP and ISKP were discussed. The two sides agreed to collaborate to effectively address the threat of terrorism posed by terrorist entities and organizations. It was also agreed to strengthen multifaceted bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The 9th Pakistan-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting is currently underway in Washington D.C. The TIFA Council is co-chaired by Minister of Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar, and U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai. TIFA provides a forum for the two countries to discuss bilateral trade and investment including exploring access for Pakistani exports to the US market. In today’s meeting, the two sides will review the progress in trade, investment, agriculture, food security and IT cooperation since the TIFA inter-sessional meeting held last year. They will also discuss modalities to further strengthen trade ties in a mutually beneficial manner. Today’s TIFA Council meeting is another important milestone in the series of high-level bilateral engagements with the U.S. this year. It signifies the importance attached by both sides to add positive momentum in pursuing a broad-based bilateral agenda of cooperation. Last US-Pakistan TIFA Council meeting was held in Islamabad in 2016.
The Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar will lead the Pakistan delegation to the 8th meeting of the Uzbek-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation (IGC) being held in Tashkent today. The Uzbek side will be led by Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade. Laziz Kudratov. The meeting will focus on bilateral economic cooperation in various sectors including trade and investment, agriculture, education, science & technology, tourism, transport & communication. Pakistan remains concerned at the ongoing human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Yesterday marked the 32nd anniversary of the despicable acts of mass rape of Kashmiri women carried out by the Indian occupation forces in Kunan and Poshpora villages of Kupwara in 1991. The lack of accountability over the last 32 years for this shameful episode is a frightening example of the impunity that defines India’s human rights violations in the IIOJK. It continues to be a scar on the collective conscience of the international community.
Pakistan will continue to raise our voice against such grave human rights violations in Kashmir. We will also continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions. Coming to the upcoming events, Pakistan in its capacity as the chair of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) is hosting a one-day conference on “Women in Islam: Understanding the Rights and Identity of Women in the Islamic World” on 8th March 2023 at the UN Headquarters on the sidelines of the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The objective of the Conference is to bridge the perception-reality gap on the rights of women in Islam and celebrate the experiences and successes of iconic Muslim women. The forum will aim to establish an Annual Policy Dialogue on the margins of CSW to address challenges and explore opportunities to advance the role of women role in OIC countries.
Editor: Raja Kamran