Qureshi to depart for Brussels today on three-day visit

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is to leave for Brussels on Monday for a three-day visit to Belgium.

He is undertaking the visit on the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belgium Sophie Wilmes.

During his tour, the foreign minister will co-chair the sixth round of Pakistan-EU Strategic Dialogue with EU High Representative and Vice President Josep Borrell.

This will mark the first in-person session of the Pakistan-EU Strategic Engagement Plan, since the landmark plan was signed in June 2019. 

In addition to this, Qureshi will meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The two sides have remained closely engaged on Afghanistan as well as undertaken joint training and capacity building programmes for military and civilian personnel.

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The foreign minister will have an exchange of views with Belgian parliamentarians and members of the European Parliament.

Qureshi will also meet and address members of the Pakistani community residing in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Pakistan and the European Union (EU) had finalised the strategic engagement plan on March 25, 2019.

Aimed at promoting durable economic development, the understanding came at the strategic dialogue held at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

The engagement plan laid particular emphasis on partnerships in the fields of trade, investment and energy.