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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Belgium enjoy friendly and cooperative relations based upon common interests and shared values of democracy, pluralism and trust. The bilateral diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Belgium were established soon after Pakistan’s independence in 1948. Belgium considers Pakistan an important country in the region and values its efforts for the peace and stability.
These remarks were made by Charles Joseph M Delogne, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Pakistan during a seminar titled “Pak-Belgium Relations: Past, Present and Future” which was organized by Policy Institute for Peace and Development (PIPD) and Bahria University, Islamabad.
He further said that both countries have strong trade and economic relations in the areas of Textile, Pharmaceutical products, machinery, medical equipment, iron, steel and chemicals. Addressing the students, he highlighted the two types of academic scholarships; ARES and VLIR-OUS that can be acquired by HEC and Ministry of Education directly with the counterparts in Brussels.
Ms. Wadana Khattak, President Policy Institute of Peace & Development stressed upon the crucial role of cultural diplomacy and people to people contact in bringing the nations closer. She said that through sharing culture, art, music and sports, two countries can build a stronger and lasting relationship with each other. She expressed the dire need for cross-cultural collaboration between Pakistan and Belgium both at government and public level to further enhance the ties and foster the already strong diplomatic relations.
Dr. Adam Saud Dean Department of Social Sciences presented a scholarly expose at the historical and current perspective of relations between Belgium and Pakistan while exploring the new domains of cooperation and strengthening of bilateral ties. He said that there exist a number of areas in which Belgium and Pakistan can jointly work to benefit mutually from such as information technology, science, medical and industrial research and agricultural innovation.
In the end, Mr. Arsalan Khattak, ABC offered the token of thanks to H.E. Charles Joseph M Delogne Ambassador of Belgium, Ms. Wadana Khattak President PIPD, Dr. Adam Saud Dean Department of Social Sciences, Bahria University, faculty members and the participants on behalf of Embassy of Belgium and Policy Institute of Peace and Development for their worthy presence at the conference.
