Serbia to open embassy in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Defence Syed Naveed Qamar met the highest leadership and command in the House of Guards in Topcider, Belgrade.

The Defence Minister is leading a four-member delegation to Serbia.

Speaking about the importance of the meeting, the Defence Minister and Deputy PM of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said that Pakistan was and remained a friend of Serbia and has always been on the side of Pakistan in the international context.

During the visit, Syed Naveed Qamar met the Serbian President, Tomislav Nikolic, the Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Aleksandar Vucic and Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Mr. Nebojsa Stefanovic.

The Defence Minister also visited various defence installations and witnessed a demonstration held by Serbian Special Forces, said a statement here Thursday.

The visit is aimed at identifying avenues for cooperation between the defence establishments of the two countries.

In this context, a prospective Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of defence also came under discussion.

The Minister also broached issues of opening of Serbian Embassy in Islamabad, concluding Preferential Trade Agreement and holding of Joint Ministerial Commission.

The Serbian dignitaries assured their fullest cooperation and stated that these issues will be addressed at priority.

Topic of the meeting held with Serbian President and Deputy PM was the promotion of bilateral cooperation in different fields, and the two sides talked about the military-to-military, military-economic and military-educational cooperation.

Minister Vucic agreed that a military delegation of the Republic of Serbia should visit Pakistan as soon as possible and also there were discussions about the development of cooperation in the field of
technology transfer, which is of great importance for Serbia, he said, adding that this would open the doors for various types of cooperation between the two countries.

Serbian Minister was more precise saying that their defence industry has to offer armored vehicles, large caliber ammunition, night-vision devices, and the use of wind tunnels that are in the possession
of our Military technical Institute.

In the meetings, the Serbian leadership deeply appreciated Pakistan’s principled stance on the Kosovo issue. Pakistan and Serbia have good cooperation.

Defence Minister Syed Naveed Qamar also extended invitations from President and Prime Minister of Pakistan to the President and Prime Minister of Serbia to visit Pakistan, which were accepted and highly appreciated. (PPI)