Pakistan, EU ink new Strategic Engagement Plan

BRUSSELS: Pakistan and the European Union on Tuesday signed a new Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP) for enhanced cooperation with the bloc in areas including trade, peace and security and anti-money laundering.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini inked the agreement at a ceremony held in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday.

The plan is a long-term comprehensive framework between Pakistan and the EU countries to seek cooperation in the fields of security, trade and investment, migration, sustainable growth, energy, education and culture.

Talking to reporters after signing the agreement, Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan gave importance to its relations with the EU countries which were based on commonalities of upholding the democratic traditions and mutual respect. He lauded the efforts from both sides to materialise the SEP, which he said would result in broader cooperation between Pakistan and EU under the umbrella of “Re-admission Agreement”.

Qureshi dismissed the notion that Pakistan was facing isolation at the international level and said several European countries including United Kingdom, Germany and France were not in favour of putting Pakistan in its money-laundering blacklist.

He said many European countries after realising Pakistan’s solid and positive steps were not in favour of blacklisting.During his address at the meeting of EU’s political committee, Qureshi apprised the participants of Pakistan’s efforts in the right direction and mentioned that inking of new SEP was reflective of the fact that Pakistan’s engagement was increasing with European Union.

The Foreign Minister said Pakistan’s foreign policy was co-related with the country’s peace and development. He said under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan was pursuing the policy of a “peaceful neighbourhood for regional peace”.

Qureshi mentioned that India tried hard to isolate Pakistan at international arena, however, all such moves ended up unsuccessfully. He said India was not showing a positive response on holding negotiations with Pakistan to resolve all outstanding issues.

He said economic challenges currently faced by Pakistan were the outcome of negligence of last several decades, for which stringent measures were required for sustainable solution.