ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi started his three-day visit to Iraq on Friday where he is scheduled to hold meeting with senior officials on matters of mutual interest.
According to an official handout circulated by the foreign office in Islamabad, Qureshi is visiting the Arab country on the invitation of his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Mohammed Hussein and is likely to take up issues pertaining to the management and wellbeing of thousands of Pakistani pilgrims who visit the sacred sites in Iraq every year.
“He will also review cooperation between the two countries in multilateral organizations, in particular the United Nations, its subsidiary organizations, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” said the statement. “He will also exchange views on problems concerning Muslim Ummah, as well as global and regional issues of mutual interest.”
The foreign office noted that Pakistan and Iraq and longstanding fraternal ties that were rooted in their shared faith, values and culture.
It added that the bilateral relations between the two countries had always benefitted from shared understanding and similarity of views on a number of regional and global issues.
Pakistan has always maintained strong and cordial relations with countries in the Middle East.
It enjoys close diplomatic, cultural, trade and military ties with all the Arab states in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates where a sizeable number of its nationals are employed.
“The visit of Foreign Minister Qureshi comes in the backdrop of a number of Ministerial-level visits from both sides in the past few months, which signify the importance accorded by both countries to augmenting bilateral relationship for mutual benefit,” said the foreign office. “The visit is expected to add further momentum to the positive trajectory of brotherly ties between Pakistan and Iraq.”
