Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office Niels Annen called on Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed and various lawmakers on Monday.

During his meeting with the chief of army staff at GHQ in Rawalpindi, issues of mutual interest, regional security and measures to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed.

The German state minister in his remarks "appreciated Pakistan’s role for ensuring peace and stability in the region", a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

His visit comes as Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is away on a two-nation visit to Iran and Saudi Arabia on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan to help defuse regional tensions that reached dangerously high levels following the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a US airstrike. The premier had also directed Gen Bajwa to "contact relevant military leaders to convey a clear message: Pakistan is ready to play its role for peace but it can never again be part of any war."

North Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar also took to Twitter to say that he had a productive meeting with Annen, during which the German ambassador to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck was also present.

"We discussed PTM's struggle for constitutional rights in Pakistan," said Dawar, who is a leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

A photo tweeted out by Dawar showed that PML-N leader and former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq and PML-N MNA Mehnaz Akber Aziz were also part of the meeting.

According to a press release issued by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Annen during his visit to Islamabad was scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Qureshi, Speaker Asad Qaiser and Gen Bajwa for political talks.

"In meetings with human rights defenders, religious representatives and journalists, he will find out about the situation of human rights and religious freedom in Pakistan," the statement had said.

Prior to his visit to the country, the state minister had noted that "Pakistan plays a key role in the region and for peace in Afghanistan.

"At the same time, it has great potential for even closer cooperation. The government has significantly stabilised the security and economic situation. This also offers opportunities for the German economy," Annen was quoted as saying by the German foreign ministry.