Islamabad (TDI): Hungary’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Thursday that his country and Pakistan have signed a deal to lift the visa requirement for Pakistani diplomatic passports as he visited the country.
Szijjártó is undertaking a one-day visit to Pakistan on the invitation of his counterpart Ishaq Dar, according to the Foreign Office (FO).
He is accompanied by a high-level business delegation to explore business avenues in Pakistan.
Addressing a joint media conference in Islamabad with Dar, Szijjártó said: “We are happy that we were able to ink the deal to the visa requirement for diplomatic passport-holders. We have done it because we want our ties to be even more intensified.”
He added that both sides believed in the significance of dialogue and that “mutual respect should be the basis of world politics”.
“We do believe that the judgment, lecturing, cornering and criticizing each other, which became the basis of world politics in recent years, have led to serious issues of global politics,” he added.
Szijjártó arrived in Islamabad earlier on Thursday, where he was received by Additional Secretary Europe Muhammad Ayyub, the Hungarian ambassador and other key officials, the FO said.
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He then participated the Pakistan-Hungary Business forum in Islamabad, where he expressed his country’s “strong desire to broaden collaboration with Pakistan across different sectors, including economy and trade.”
Szijjártó expressed the optimism that B2B meetings between the two countries today would prove successful.
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He also voiced support for Pakistan to remain a part of the Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) beyond 2027.
At the business forum, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan expressed the optimism that B2B engagements would lead to meaningful cooperation and long-term ventures between both nations.
Kamal praised the value of Hungary’s technological expertise, innovation and industrial capacity.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
