Portugal, Pakistan to hold consultations in November

KARACHI: Ambassador of Portugal to Pakistan Paulo Neves Pocinho has said that bilateral relations between Portugal and Pakistan have always been friendly and in November this year, fruitful diplomatic consultations were planned in addition to signing of pending agreements.

He was speaking as the plenary speaker at a webinar “Portugal-Pakistan Relations and Future Aspirations” the other day. The webinar was moderated by Arshad Saeed Hussain.

Pocinho said that diplomatic facilities have been revamped for smooth consular services to encourage people-to-people contacts, which were vital for a strong relationship.

“Now is the ideal time to strengthen the political relations and improve the partnership for which political consultations are being initiated.”

He said that the pandemic caused a gap in the efforts for liaison between Chambers of Commerce in Pakistan and the Embassy of Portugal to improve business relations, but those efforts could be resumed in the future. Earlier, Zehra Akbari apprised of the cordial and friendly diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Portugal since November 1949. The two countries have since cooperated on trade, investment, air traffic, avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion.

High level dignitaries have also exchanged visits, and Parliamentary Friendship Groups, she said, adding that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Portugal both in a bilateral context and in the context of EU.

Karachi Council on Foreign Relations Chairman Ikram Sehgal explained the importance he personally attached to Portugal, where he has been attending international meetings regularly since 2017, and appreciated Portuguese people’s hospitality during his visits. He expressed his desire for continued engagement between the KCFR and the Portuguese embassy.

Sehgal thanked all the participants and the panellists for their informative presentations, especially the Portuguese ambassador, and expressed hope for a lasting liaison between representatives of both countries for improvement of bilateral ties.