State Secretary for Political Affairs Hido Biščević received Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar

State Secretary Biščević and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Bakhtyar confirmed good relations without any open issues between the Republic of Croatia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, stating that there is space for creating legal framework for future cooperation, particularly economic one.

The Minister of State Bakhtyar informed State Secretary Biščević on the state of neighbouring countries and that part of the region. State Secretary Biščević pointed out the contribution of the Republic of Croatia in the international UN peace mission in the area of Kashmir, which is led by Croatian General Dragutin Repinc. In the context of talks about multilateral cooperation, he expressed satisfaction with the achieved level. Both sides agreed that the key to stability and prosperity of the region depends on the security situation in Afghanistan.

In his speech about the current regional situation, State Secretary Biščević said that the Republic of Croatia contributes greatly to the stability of the region. In this sense, he informed the Minister of State Bakhtyar on the current progress of the processes that represent foreign policy priorities for the Republic of Croatia – accession to the full membership in the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and added that it did not take long for Croatia to transform itself from a country that received help to a country who provides help to other countries in need.

State Secretary Biščević and Minister of State Bakhtyar signed a Memorandum of understanding and bilateral consultation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The two countries committed themselves by the Memorandum to have one-year bilateral consultations between the representatives of the Ministries.