Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday met President of Spain’s Congress of Deputies Meritxell Batet and shared Pakistan’s progress in meeting the FATF’s Action Plan, besides discussing Afghanistan situation.
On his arrival at Spain’s Parliament House, Foreign Minister Qureshi and his delegation were welcomed by Meritxell Batet. During the meeting, the foreign minister said Spain was Pakistan’s important partner in the European Union.
He said Pakistan was resolved to strengthen cooperation in multiple spheres and the recent visit of his Spanish counterpart also helped strengthen the bilateral ties.
Mentioning the celebration of 70 years of Pakistan-Spain diplomatic relations, the foreign minister emphasized the exchange of high-level delegations and activation of the parliamentary friendship groups.
Highlighting Pakistan’s successful strategy to tackle the COVID pandemic through smart lockdown, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal for debt relief to the developing countries to help them overcome the economic impact of the pandemic was lauded globally. The foreign minister said being its immediate neighbor, Pakistan paid a huge price of instability in Afghanistan by sacrificing 80,000 lives, and facing an economic loss worth $150 billion.
Qureshi said Pakistan always advocated for a political solution to Afghan issue and that after 40 years, an opportunity for revival of peace had come which should not be missed. Referring to the recently held meeting of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan in Islamabad, the foreign minister called for taking solid steps for financial support of the Afghan people.
He also thanked Spain for a donation of 20 million euros for Afghanistan and its intimation of efforts for education of Afghan children particularly the girls.
During the visit, Foreign Minister Qureshi also interacted with a delegation of the members of Foreign Relations Committee of the Congress headed by Pau Mari Klose. The committee members thanked Pakistan for celebrating the 70th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations.
Referring to the huge potential for cooperation in trade and commerce, the foreign minister stressed the need to exchange the parliamentary delegations.
Coming to the Afghan situation, he said the world should not repeat the past mistake rather avail the opportunity of peace by making concerted efforts as any instability there would imperil the peace of Pakistan as well as the region.
The foreign minister told the committee members that after August 15 takeover of Taliban, Pakistan had formed a platform of six neighbors to formulate a uniformed strategy.
Qureshi also drew committee’s attention towards the unilateral Indian actions of August 5, 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir which had risked the regional peace.
Terming 125,000 Pakistani expatriates in Spain as a driving force to strengthen the bilateral ties, Foreign Minister Qureshi also highlighted the difficulties faced by them including some local laws which required Pakistanis to revoke their Pakistani citizenship.
He also invited the committee members to visit Pakistan, who thanked the country for supporting the evacuation of Spanish citizens from Afghanistan.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Qureshi also interacted with think tanks, journalists and defence experts at Pakistan House wherein he said Pakistan had shifted its focus from geopolitics to geoeconomics.
He said through its economic diplomacy, Pakistan was attracting the world towards the massive opportunities of investment in an emerging market of 200 million people.
He said the think tanks played an important role in building public opinion particularly amidst the fast-changing circumstances in the global scenario.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qureshi met his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares and urged the Spanish government to review the Pakistan travel advisory following remarkable improvement in the law and order situation. During the meeting, the foreign minister, who arrived here Monday, discussed the bilateral relations, trade and economic relations, besides regional and global situation.
Ambassador of Pakistan in Spain Shujaat Rathor also attended the meeting. The foreign minister told his counterpart that over 125,000 Pakistani expatriates in Spain contributed to strengthening the bilateral relations. He said owing to the non-existence of dual citizenship agreement between Pakistan and Spain, the Pakistani citizens residing in Spain had to revoke their Pakistani citizenship, according the local laws. He hoped that the Spanish government would seriously consider the resolution of the issue confronting the Pakistani citizens.
