Daily Times

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday expressed Pakistan’s resolve to further solidify its political and economic ties with Finland.

He added that reopening of the Finnish Embassy in Islamabad would further facilitate trade relations as well as promotion of people-to-people contacts. The Foreign Minister said this during the meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto held here on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

The two Foreign Ministers discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest. Foreign Minister Qureshi underscored that Pakistan attached high importance to its relations with Finland.

He felicitated Foreign Minister Haavisto on the completion of seven decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Highlighting the importance of exchanging high-level visits, Foreign Minister Qureshi invited Foreign Minister Haavisto to undertake a visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

He also briefed the Foreign Minister of Finland on Pakistan’s perspective regarding developments in Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister stressed on the need to promote lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan through active and sustained engagement of the international community to address the immediate humanitarian needs of the Afghan people and their long-term socio-economic development.

He shared with his Finnish counterpart a Dossier documenting India’s grave violations of human rights, international humanitarian law and UN Security Council resolutions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).