The Vice Minister of Lithuania Egidijus Meilunas says they had very fruitful and friendly discussions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on political and economic developments in our countries, bilateral relations, relations between the European Union and Pakistan, situation in South Asia and Europe’

Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD: The Vice Minister of Lithuania Egidijus Meilunas has said it was a great honour for him to be in Pakistan on occasion of the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Lithuania and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

He said ‘these three decades were extremely dynamic for Lithuania. We established diplomatic relations between our two countries just in four years after Lithuania succeeded to restore its statehood after 50 years of Soviet occupation, and just in few months after withdrawal of Russian troops from the Lithuanian soil’.

This year Lithuania also marks the 20th anniversary of the European Union and NATO membership.

He expressed these views on the occasion of a reception. Seanor Sherry Rehman , Additional Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania Ambassador to Pakistan Ricardas Degutis (based in Ankara) and a  large number of guests attended the reception hosted by Masud Khan, Hon. Consul General of Lithuania in Pakistan.

Minister Meilunas further said, fast transformation period brought to Lithuania stability and security, contributed to firm establishment of the rule of law and respect to human rights, provided welfare, believe in the future of the sustainable development, and the most important – feeling of being integral part of the European and Euro-Atlantic family, where opinions are shared and heard, and culture of compromise and consensus in the politics is appreciated.

He added, ‘we had very fruitful and friendly discussions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on political and economic developments in our countries, bilateral relations, relations between the European Union and Pakistan, situation in South Asia and Europe’.

We also discussed other challenges for regional and global security. We live in very challenging and difficult times, so if we want to preserve our world order, based on rules and international law, we have to unite our efforts on protecting it, he added.

‘Our discussions reflected mutual interest in deeper understanding of our positions and concerns, as well as readiness to look at the opportunities to enhance bilateral links, especially in economic cooperation. Being strong in development of business service centers, startup ecosystem, fintech, software development, cyber security, life sciences, engineering and electronics Lithuania can be a very useful partner for Pakistani companies’.

He said he was very happy that my country is so well represented here by Mr Masud Khan, our Honorary Consul General in Pakistan.

He wished that the next 30 years of cooperation between Lithuania and Pakistan would be successful, productive, based on mutual respect and friendship.