DNA

ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi met Foreign Minister Kalla Ankouraou of Niger on the sidelines of the 47^th CFM Session in Niamey, Niger.

Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed satisfaction at the close brotherly relations between the two countries, marked by common faith and convergence of views and shared perspectives.

Highlighting the need for expanding economic and commercial ties between the two countries, the Foreign Minister offered to continue assisting Niger through various capacity-building programmes.

Thanking Niger for its long-held principled stance on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the Foreign Minister apprised his Niger counterpart about the worsening human rights and humanitarian situation in IIOJK. He briefed Foreign Minister Kalla on India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, and subsequent steps to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory, in violation of UNSC resolutions and international law, especially the 4^th Geneva Convention.

In the bilateral context, the two Ministers agreed that exchange of high-level visits will provide further momentum to relations between the two countries.

The Foreign Minister reiterated his invitation to his Nigerien counterpart to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.