Islamabad: Joint Communique of the Meeting between Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia Dr. Gordan Grlic Radman.
According to the statement issued by the Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi, at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Dr. Gordan Grlic Radman, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, paid an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Thursday.
The DPM/FM received Foreign Minister Dr. Gordan Grlic Radman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad. Both the leaders held detailed delegation level talks. Both sides discussed entire range of their friendly bilateral ties. They also exchanged views on important regional and international issues. Both sides underscored their shared commitment to further deepening bilateral cooperation.
Noting that this is the maiden high-level visit at the Foreign Minister level from Croatia to Pakistan, both sides welcomed it as an important opportunity to inject greater momentum to Pakistan-Croatia bilateral relations. They affirmed their desire to maintain regular high-level contacts and develop mutually beneficial partnerships in all areas of bilateral interest including trade, investment, development, climate change, tourism, infrastructure, IT, seaports collaboration, etc.
Both sides agreed to expedite their procedures leading towards an early signing of (a) Pakistan-Croatia Agreement on Visa Abolition for Diplomatic Passport Holders, and (b) MoU on Cooperation between the Diplomatic Training Academies of the two countries, as well as the opening of the Croatian visa processing facility in Pakistan during the upcoming months. The Pakistan side will, in accordance with its national rules and regulations, permit the external service provider engaged by the Croatian authorities to help it perform its functions freely. These developments are expected to further facilitate visa-related procedures and contribute to enhancing travel and people-to-people exchanges.
Both sides affirmed that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Bilateral Political Consultations (BPCs) between the two Foreign Ministries (signed in Zagreb on 1 June 2007) provides a useful platform to discuss and deliberate upon all issues of interest between the two countries. They decided to take full benefit of the BPCs mechanism and agreed to maintain regular contact and hold the Consultations on a periodic basis as envisaged by the MoU. The Croatian side agreed to Pakistan’s offer to host the Bilateral Consultations in the last quarter of the year 2026 or the first quarter of the year 2027. Exact dates would be finalized through diplomatic channels.
The two sides agreed to further intensify bilateral economic relations, enhance trade and investment and explore mutually beneficial areas of cooperation. In this, they reiterated the need to greater access to each other’s markets as well as strengthen business-to-business linkages. They acknowledged the growing importance of expanding economic cooperation in sectors such as information technology, digital services, agriculture, defence and maritime cooperation.
Recognizing the strengths of their respective geo-strategic locations, the two sides exchanged views on connectivity and logistics, including exploring collaborative arrangements between the Croatian ports, as entry points to European markets, and Pakistan’s ports, as gateways to China, West Asia, Central Asia and the wider region.
The Pakistan side underscored the importance of the European Union’s GSP+ scheme for Pakistan and underlined that continuity of the GSP+ is beneficial not only in terms of economic value, but also for the far-reaching socio-economic impacts it has brought about. Pakistan expressed its keen interest in continuing engagement under the relevant European Union framework. The Croatian side noted Pakistan’s interest in submitting re-application for the European Union’s new GSP+ regulation.
Both sides appreciated the growing level of engagement on migration and labour mobility. Reaffirming their commitment to promoting safe, orderly and regular migration, they acknowledged the potential for legal pathways for Pakistani skilled workers to Croatia. They noted that they remain open to further dialogue on labour mobility.
The two leaders expressed willingness to expand cooperation in culture, education, science and research, including through educational exchanges and collaboration between universities and research institutions.
Underscoring the role of parliamentary exchanges, the two sides would encourage and facilitate exchanges and cooperation between their respective legislatures.
Both sides commended the support extended by each to the other at the international platforms including the United Nations and agreed to continue advancing their cooperation in the field of each other’s candidatures to various international bodies. Moreover, they decided to engage in consultations on issues of common interest at multilateral forums in future as well.