Pakistan and Kiribati, an island country in the central Pacific Ocean, on Thursday formally established diplomatic relations at a simple ceremony at the Pakistani Mission to the United Nations in New York. Ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, and his Kiribati counterpart Teburoro Tito, signed a joint communiqué to that effect. “I wish to congratulate the Government and the People of Kiribati on this historic occasion,” Ambassador Akram wrote on Twitter. During the meeting with Ambassador Tito, he said, “we expressed our deep desire for promotion of mutual cooperation through people-to-people contacts; economic and trade relations and exchange of bilateral visits,” pledging to collaborate in various fields including tourism and fisheries. “We reiterated to work closely at the multilateral fora for advancing the common agenda of developing countries, such as Climate Change, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and recovery from coronavirus pandemic,” the Pakistani envoy added. The two diplomats also jointly informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the establishment of Pakistan-Kiribati diplomatic relations. The Republic of Kiribati is a group of 33 Pacific Islands and home to almost 119,000 people.