Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Christian Stocker on Tuesday expressed their unwavering support for multilateralism, rule-based global order, underpinned by the principles and purposes of Charter of the United Nations and to further enhance their collaboration for strengthening the UN system.
According to the joint statement on the occasion of 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Austria and Pakistan, the two leaders reiterated the friendly and historical ties between the two countries and committed to working towards further strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation. Both sides took stock of developments at the global level and agreed on the central role of the United Nations in addressing the challenges of peace and security, sustainable development and promotion of human rights.
Both the leaders noted the potential between the two countries to enhance cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, tourism, hospitality, education, IT, healthcare and human resource development and mobility. In this regard they agreed to work for the early finalization of various Memoranda of Understanding under consideration related to these areas.
In addition to one-on-one meeting between the two leaders and delegation-level talks, the federal chancellor and the prime minister also co-chaired a forum of leading Austrian and Pakistani companies. It was agreed to further enhance bilateral exchanges and cooperation through existing and future frameworks, building on the established mechanisms of dialogue.
The prime minister invited the Austrian businesses and companies to participate in the upcoming EU-Pakistan Business Forum to be held in Islamabad in April 2026.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif extended an invitation to Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker to visit Pakistan in the near future.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif surprised the Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker with his command of the German language which he spoke during the delegation-level talks between the two leaders.
During his two-day official visit to Austria – the first by a Pakistani Prime Minister in over three decades – the prime minister addressed the Chancellor in German to express gratitude for the warm hospitality and optimism for deeper bilateral cooperation in the years ahead.
“Mr Chancellor, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your very warm welcome today and I look forward to continuing cooperation in the coming years,” the prime minister said in the German – the national language of Austria.
German Chancellor also shared the video clip highlighting the moment with the caption, “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif surprised everyone with his German language proficiency.”
This is not the first time Prime Minister Shehbaz has demonstrated his multilingual abilities on the international stage. He has previously spoken German, Persian, Russian, and Arabic during various engagements.