Pakistan, New Zealand hold annual consultations

Islamabad, Sep 19 (UNI) The inaugural session of the bilateral consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Pakistan and New Zealand focusing on India-Pakistan peace process and terrorism was held here today.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said in a statement here that John McKinnon, Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led the New Zealand delegation while Pakistani delegation was headed by Additional Secretary Asia Pacific Muhammad Akhtar Tufail .

''The discussions covered bilateral relations, including their political, economic, commercial and educational aspects,'' Ms Aslam said and added there was an exchange of views on several other issues, including the Composite Dialogue with India, the situation in Afghanistan and Iran and terrorism.

Matters relating to ASEAN, APEC and ASEM were also taken up.

Pakistan was admitted into as the full member of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM )on September 11.

The Asia-Europe Meeting is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation initiated in 1996. Twenty-five EU Member States, the European Commission and thirteen Asian countries- Brunei, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam- participated in the process.

Dialogue under the rubric of ASEM addresses political, economic and cultural issues in order to strengthen the relationship between the two regions.

The next round of the Pakistan-New Zealand bilateral consultations will be held in New Zealand next year.

UNI XC SI RS2019