70 years of Pak-German relations celebrated

KARACHI: A ceremony was held in Karachi to mark the 70 years of successful diplomatic bilateral relations between two friendly countries, Germany and Pakistan.

On October 15, 1951, the two newly-formed countries concluded a brief correspondence on a typing paper. Pakistan and the-then, West Germany, mutually agreed to set up diplomatic missions. To commemorate the start of bonhomie between the two friendly countries, on October 15, 2021, the German Consulate General and the MoFA camp office in Karachi celebrated the 70th anniversary of successful bilateral relationship between Germany and Pakistan. Throughout the past seven decades, both the countries developed the full spectrum bilateral relations.

In addition to the main event organised in Islamabad by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) along with the German Embassy, the German Consulate General and the MoFA camp office in Karachi held a ceremony, “where it all began”, since Karachi was the capital until 1958. To mark this auspicious day, Saqib Rauf, Deputy Chief of Protocol, Camp Office, Karachi, received the Consul General, Holger Ziegeler, accompanied by Ms Birgit Kuhlmann, Deputy Head of Mission, and Ms Maren Dick, Head of Consular Affairs.

Both the German Consul General and the DC Protocol highlighted the importance and large bandwidth of the bilateral relations. They emphasised the fact that Germany has maintained a local diplomatic presence during all this time, serving the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan in economic spheres, cooperation in culture, development, and the consular services.

They expressed the firm hope that the both sides will continue the friendship in the future and encouraged the younger generation to participate more actively in the friendly exchanges between the two countries. Plaques were exchanged between the two representatives as token of remembrance of the occasion.

Earlier this year, to mark this important milestone, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin in April 2021, who soon afterwards reciprocated the gesture in Islamabad.

The fine art of naval diplomacy came into play where PNS Zulfiqar visited the port of Hamburg in August, and recently in September, the German Frigate Bayern performed a partnership visit to Karachi.