Brussels/Pakistan, 25 April 2017 – I visited Pakistan (Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore) from 18 to 21 April 2017 as a member of the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.
The delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee was headed by the Committee President David McAllister (EPP, Germany). Other members of the delegation were Arnaud Danjean (EPP, France), Neena Gill (S&D, UK), Andrejs Mamikins (S&D, Latvia), Jozo Radoš (ALDE, Croatia) Amjad Bashir (ECR, UK) and Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE, UK).
The main goal of the visit was to reiterate the dialogue between the EU and Pakistan, especially in light of the forthcoming adoption of the new EU-Pakistan Strategic Engagement Plan, which shall cover a wide range of political and security issues such as governance, human rights, migration, trade and energy.
During the visit we had constructive meetings with high-level representatives of federal and county governments and parliamentarians, diplomatic corps, civil society and think-tanks, following up on earlier Parliamentary visits. We used the opportunity to express our support to the stable and democratic Pakistan, built on the rule of law.
Besides EU-Pakistan relations, we discussed other matters, such as enhanced foreign policy dialogue about the issues of global and regional importance and of joint interest, including regional security, fight against terrorism, support to development, migration and return of refugees and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.