ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed for Vienna on Sunday for a two-day visit to review bilateral ties, his office said in a statement, marking the first official visit by a Pakistani premier to the country in over three decades. 

Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that Sharif is undertaking the visit at Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker’s invitation. Sharif will lead a high-level delegation comprising the deputy premier and information minister from the Feb. 15-16 visit. 

The foreign office said Sharif’s visit marks 70 years since diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Austria were established. 

“This visit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Vienna marks the first visit by a Pakistani Prime Minister to Austria in over three decades, the last having been undertaken by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992,” the statement said. 

Sharif will hold bilateral talks with his Austrian counterpart, during which the two leaders will take stock of the entire gamut of bilateral relations.

“The prime minister will also chair a meeting of the Pakistan–Austria Business Forum, which is being organized by the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO),” the foreign office said. “He will also visit multilateral organizations.”

According to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, Islamabad and Vienna enjoy cooperation in the domains of trade, economy, culture and education.

It said Sharif’s visit to Vienna will establish new dimensions to the Pakistan-Austria relations.