Pakistan, Portugal to expand ties

During the third round of ‘bilateral political consultations’ between Pakistan and Portugal held in Lisbon, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to further expand and diversify mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Pakistan delegation was headed by Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe), Ambassador Muhammad Saleem while Director General for Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rui Vinhas led the Portuguese side, Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release on Saturday.

Agenda included discussion on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues of common interest including regional security, climate change and cooperation at the multilateral fora.

Expressing satisfaction at the current state of bilateral relations, the two sides agreed to enhance bilateral trade and investment, and collaboration in agriculture, water management, ICT, blue economy, green technologies and employment opportunities for Pakistani workforce.

It was agreed to hold regular sessions of the political consultations with the next session to be held in Islamabad for which the Portuguese delegation would visit Pakistan on mutually agreed dates.