Pakistan MoS Hina Rabbani Khar to attend EU Indo-Pacific Forum in Sweden

Islamabad [Pakistan], May 12 : The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabb Khar will undertake an official visit to Stockholm, Sweden in May 2023 to participate in the 2nd EU Indo-Pacific Forum (EIPMF), Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The visit is taking place at the joint invitation of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, the statement said.

The statement from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry added that at the Forum, the Minister of State Hina Rabb Khar will highlight Pakistan's perspective on important regional and global issues and explore avenues of cooperation with the European Union especially in trade, investment, digital technology, climate, environment and health and connectivity.

She will also meet with leaders participating in the Forum and discuss issues of bilateral cooperation.

Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also travel to Sweden to attend the EIPMF. This would be his first visit as EAM to the Nordic country. This comes at a time when India and Sweden are celebrating 75 years of establishing diplomatic relations.

According to a Ministry of External Affairs release, Jaishankar will participate in the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF) in Sweden.

He will hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of several countries on the margins of EIPMF.

During his stay, he will call on leadership in Sweden and meet with key ministers.

He will also participate in the inaugural session of the India Trilateral Forum (India, Europe and the US) with his Swedish counterpart.

Jaishankar is on a state visit to Bangladesh that ends on Friday. EAM will leave for Sweden after completing the 6th edition of the Indian Ocean Conference.

From Sweden, the EAM would be travelling to Brussels for bilateral engagements with Belgian and EU officials. He will also attend the first Ministerial Meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council along with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The TTC Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to be held on May 16.