PARIS, APR 24 (DNA) – The economic and public diplomacy initiatives launched by the Embassy of Pakistan to France are contributing towards strengthening of relations between Pakistan and France.

This was stated by Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque while briefing the 19-member delegation of National Defense University (NDU) of Pakistan which called on him at the Embassy in Paris, yesterday.

The delegation, comprising senior officers from Pakistan’s Armed Forces and allied officers from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and USA, is visiting France as part of their National Security & War Course being held at the National Defence University, Islamabad.

While briefing the delegation, the Ambassador said that Pakistan and France have a solid base for partnership in the political, economic, defence, education and cultural fields and enjoy commonality of views on many important global issues.

The Ambassador said that the Secretary General of French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to visit Pakistan in the near future to review and hold dialogue on whole range of bilateral relations with its Pakistani counterpart under the institutional mechanism of Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC).

He noted that regular exchanges of parliamentary delegations are also contributing in bringing a qualitative change in bilateral relations.

The Ambassador said that economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries form an intrinsic part of the bilateral relations and noted with satisfaction a steady increase in the volume of bilateral trade over the last few years reaching over US$ 1.5 billion in 2017.

He pledged to sustain this upward momentum in the years to come to achieve a higher volume to truly reflect the potential of the two economies.

The Ambassador also briefed the NDU delegation about bilateral defence relations and the regular exchanges through the meetings of the Joint Security Commission and Staff Talks held every year alternately in Paris and Islamabad.

During stay in Paris, the delegation will visit various French defence and civil institutions including renowned French companies working in the field of defence.=DNA

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