Belgian Foreign Minister due tomorrow

Islamabad, Oct 31 (UNI) Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht arrives here tomorrow for talks with Pakistan leaders on entire spectrum of bilateral relations and important region and global issues including the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan.

A Belgian embassy spokesman told UNI here that Foreign Minister Gucht would meet President General Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri and Advisor on Finance Dr Salam Shah during the visit.

The visit at the foreign ministerial level from Belgium is taking place after a gap of nine years, which Pakistan officials believe, will further reinforce economic ties between the two countries.

''The main purpose of the visit is to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in trade, investment and economic fields,'' the spokesman said, adding that the talks will mainly focus on trade issues.

The annual volume of trade between Pakistan and Belgium currently stands at 496 million Euros with the balance of trade tilting in favour of the latter.

The spokesman said the Belgian Foreign Minister would also discuss the current pace of the peace process between India and Pakistan, security situation in Afghanistan and the ongoing war against terror.

He said Belgium, which would assume a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a period of two years from January 1, 2007, was interested to maintain a close relationship with all the important regional players including Pakistan.

He said Islamabad and Brussels periodically review the pace of cooperation in economic, security and other fields at the forum of the joint ministerial commission, which met last July in the Belgian capital.

UNI XC SHB BST1659