Islamabad, 11 November 2021 (TDI): The 7th Senior Officials Talks (SOTs) between Pakistan and Australia took place through video conference on Wednesday, 10th November.
Additional Secretary (Asia-Pacific) Asim Iftikhar Ahmad led the Pakistani delegation, while Justin Hayhurst, Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led the Australian delegation.
AS (AP) @Asimiahmad & DS Justin Hayhurst co-chaired the 7th round of Senior Officials Talks. AS reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to:
➖further consolidate multi-faceted relations b/w 🇵🇰 & 🇦🇺
➖enhance bilateral cooperation & ➖strengthen coordination at multilateral fora.🇵🇰🤝🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/YTyRjIAMD0
— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) November 10, 2021
The two sides discussed a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues, including politics, economics, trade, and investment, defence and security, educational and technical cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges.
The two sides determined to consolidate and further deepen cooperation in various spheres in keeping with the common objectives of peace and development, recognising the steady progress in multi-dimensional bilateral ties over the years based on mutual trust and understanding.
The necessity of regular interaction and debate within current systems, as well as the exchange of high-level visits, was emphasised in order to maintain momentum in the relationship.
The Additional Secretary also requested Australia’s assistance in expediting the return of Pakistani students who have been unable to go to Australia due to the COVID-19 situation.
In 2022, the next session of Senior Officials Talks will take place in Islamabad.
