ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi received Ambassador of the European Union Jean-François Cautain at the Foreign Office Tuesday. 

The two sides discussed a wide range of regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest and expressed satisfaction at the positive growth in Pakistan-EU relations, says a press release issued here.

The foreign minister highlighted the government’s people-centric reform agenda to bring improvement in wide range of areas, including health, education, agriculture, tourism, human rights, national security and eliminating corruption. He stressed upon the need for enhancing bilateral trade and economic cooperation, in particular to take full benefit of GSP Plus Scheme, which was in positive synergy with the government’s own social agenda.

The foreign minister also appreciated the role of Pakistani diasporas in EU countries in promoting bilateral ties and people-to-people contacts, and highlighted that the current government had, for the first time, granted electronic voting rights to overseas Pakistanis in October 2018 by-elections.

On regional situation, the foreign minister underscored Pakistan’s efforts in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.  

Referring to the findings of the reports of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UK’s All Parties Parliamentary Kashmir Group (APPKG) on human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir, the foreign minister urged the EU to uphold its highest standards of human rights by addressing the situation.—PR