ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Belgium enjoy friendly and cooperative relations based upon common interests and shared values of democracy, pluralism and trust.

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Belgium were established soon after Pakistan’s independence, in 1948. Belgium considers Pakistan an important country in the region and values its efforts for peace and stability.

These remarks were made by Charles Joseph M Delogne, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium during a seminar titled ‘Pak-Belgium Relations: Past, Present and Future’ organised by Policy Institute for Peace and Development (PIPD) and Bahria University, Islamabad.

He said that both countries have strong trade and economic relations in the areas of Textile, pharmaceutical products, machinery, medical equipment, iron, steel and chemicals.

Addressing students, he highlighted the two types of academic scholarships, ARES and VLIR-OUS, that can be obtained through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Ministry of Education directly with counterparts in Brussels.

Wadana Khattak, president of the Policy Institute of Peace and Development, stressed upon the crucial role of cultural diplomacy and people-to-people contact in bringing the nations closer.

She said that through sharing culture, art, music and sports, two countries can build a stronger and lasting relationship with each other.

She expressed the dire need for cross-cultural collaboration between Pakistan and Belgium both at government and public level to further enhance ties and foster the already strong diplomatic relations.

Adam Saud, dean, Department of Social Sciences talked about the historical and current perspective of relations between Belgium and Pakistan while exploring the new domains of cooperation and strengthening of bilateral ties.

He said that there exist a number of areas in which Belgium and Pakistan can jointly work to benefit mutually from information technology, science, medical and industrial research and agricultural innovation.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2023