BRUSSELS – High Representative of the European Union Joseph Borrell invitedPrime Minister Imran Khan to visit the European Union – the first for anyPakistani top leader in 11 years.
The development occurred during a bilateral meeting with Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum onFriday.
The invitation to the premier depicted that the European Union has chosento retain its policy of engagement despite many differences on national andinternational issues. The visit will certainly provide an opportunity forPM Imran Khan to better understand the nature and importance of relationswith the EU.
On June 16, during the meeting of the EU-Pakistan Joint Commission, the EUraised concerns about protection for the media and journalists and stressedthat the South Asian country would have to abide by the terms andconditions of the EU-Pakistan agreements.
Both sides discussed efforts for democracy, governance, rule of law, andhuman rights, besides cooperation on human rights issues at internationalfora, and the promotion and protection of all fundamental freedoms werediscussed.
Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to the promotion and protectionof all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religionand belief, rights of persons belonging to minorities, freedom ofexpression, and women’s rights and children’s rights.
Read Top Stories
Earlier, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had been invited to visitthe European Union back in 2010. A year prior, the first state-level summitin the history of Pak-EU relations, the European Union-Pakistan summit,took place on June 17, 2009, when Asif Ali Zardari was president.
Imran Khan also visited the European Parliament in 2007, not in an officialcapacity, but as a political leader, invited by a former member of EuropeanParliament Dr. Sajjad Karim, and the president of Friends of DemocraticPakistan group in the European parliament.
In the history of EU-Pakistan relations, the PPP era was a time whenrelations between the EU and Pakistan were at their peak.
Source:link
