PNN: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has departed for a two-day official visit to Vienna, Austria, from February 15-16 at the invitation of Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker, the Foreign Office said in a post on X on Sunday.
The prime minister is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch. The visit will mark 70 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Austria.
This visit marks the first trip by a Pakistani prime minister to Austria in more than three decades, the last having been undertaken by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992, read the FO statement.
According to the statement, “During the visit, the prime minister will hold bilateral talks with his Austrian counterpart. The two leaders will take stock of the entire gamut of bilateral relations.”
He will also attend and speak at a special event in Vienna under the United Nations on the theme of “Sustainable Development, Global Peace and Prosperity.”
PM Shehbaz is also expected to meet the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The PMO statement also said that the prime minister will also chair a meeting of the Pakistan-Austria Business Forum, organised by the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO), and will visit multilateral organisations.
The FO statement noted that Pakistan and Austria “enjoy cordial and friendly relations, underpinned by shared values of dialogue, cooperation, an international order based on the principles of the UN Charter, multilateralism, and respect for international law.”