ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday invited Norwegian companies to invest in Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration sector, while calling for enhanced bilateral trade between the two nations.
During a meeting with Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide here at the PM House, the prime minister welcomed the visiting dignitary and expressed satisfaction over the warm and cordial ties between Pakistan and Norway, a PM Office news release said.
Norwegian foreign minister is on an official visit to Pakistan. The visit marks the first by a Norwegian foreign minister to Pakistan in a decade, following the last such visit in 2016.
Shehbaz appreciated Norway’s bilateral cooperation with Pakistan, particularly in the areas of education, skilled labour, climate resilience and technology, while reiterating Pakistan’s strong desire to further expand trade relations between the two countries.
During discussions on the regional and global situation, the prime minister appreciated Norway’s principled stand in support of Palestine and thanked the country for its consistent support to Pakistan’s regional peace efforts in the Gulf.
The Norwegian foreign minister thanked the prime minister for the warm reception and conveyed the good wishes of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
He praised Pakistan’s significant role in regional peace efforts and reaffirmed Norway’s interest in further strengthening bilateral ties across diverse sectors, particularly appreciating the positive contribution of the Pakistani diaspora in Norway.
Shehbaz extended an invitation to the Norwegian prime minister to undertake an official visit to Pakistan.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain, SAPM Tariq Fatemi and other senior officials were also present.
Earlier, DPM/ FM held a restricted-format meeting with the Norwegian foreign minister. Dar warmly welcomed Espen Eide to Pakistan, a Foreign Office press statement said.
During the meeting, the two ministers discussed the full range of bilateral relations, as well as regional and international developments, and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide with his delegation called on Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces (COAS & CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir at the General Headquarters.
During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, regional security and bilateral relations between Pakistan and Kingdom of Norway were discussed, said a press release issued by Inter Services Public Relations.
Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir highlighted Pakistan’s perspective on global peace and regional stability underscoring the importance of cooperation and collaborative efforts to address common security challenges.
The visiting dignitary appreciated professional role played by the Pakistan Armed Forces in promoting regional peace and stability.
Both sides reiterated their resolve to further strengthen bilateral ties and expand engagements in defence and security domains.
Meanwhile, Pakistan and Norway agreed to undertake concrete steps to enhance bilateral relations and expand cooperation across multiple areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment, education, defence, climate change, Information Technology (IT), and maritime affairs.
Addressing a joint press stakeout following their delegation-level talks, DPM Dar and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that both sides acknowledged that bilateral trade currently remained below the potential of both economies and needed to be enhanced through effective measures.
“Pakistan offers enormous investment opportunities to Norwegian companies, and it is heartening to see many leading Norwegian companies investing in Pakistan,” Dar said highlighting a joint venture in plant nutrition being established by Norwegian firm Yara International with a local fertiliser company in Pakistan as a trailblazer project.
He told the media that during their “warm, constructive, and wide-ranging” discussions, both sides agreed on the expeditious finalisation of various pending agreements and MoUs currently in progress across different ministries in their respective countries.
Highlighting the growing technology partnership, he said that Pakistan’s IT exports to Norway have grown more than fivefold in the last two years.
Discussing cooperation in maritime affairs, Dar said that Pakistan had one of the world’s largest ship recycling facilities and its strategic location made it the most competitive and nearest ship recycling destination in this maritime region for ships coming from Norway.
He told the media that both Pakistan and Norway agreed to enhance people-to-people contacts and that Pakistan-Norway Parliamentary Friendship Groups have been established in the Senate and the National Assembly of Pakistan to promote cooperation between the two countries’ parliamentary bodies.
He said that both sides also agreed to continue work on legal pathways for Pakistan’s skilled manpower, stressing the need to combat human smuggling and illegal migration.
He briefed the Norwegian counterpart on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, which remained one of the long-standing unresolved international disputes and has been on the UN Security Council agenda since 1948, with numerous resolutions adopted on it by the Security Council since then.
He also briefed that India had added a new dimension to an already volatile security situation by unilaterally announcing the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty in contravention of international law, asking India to end the weaponisation of water and uphold its treaty obligations under its international legal obligations.
Apprising Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue, de-escalation and a peaceful resolution to the US-Iran conflict, Dar thanked Norway for appreciating Pakistan’s mediating role as both leaders have remained in continuous contact to exchange views on regional developments.
He also shared details regarding the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia.
In his remarks, the Norwegian foreign minister highlighted the contributions of the Norwegian-Pakistani diaspora and advocated for expanding trade relations through the EFTA-Pakistan framework.
He particularly commended Pakistan’s role as a facilitator for peace talks following the Israeli-US attack on Iran, emphasising that international law and state protection must apply universally.
“And knowing this field of peace mediation and facilitation, I know how hard it is. I know what a massive task you’re taking on when you offer Islamabad not only as the venue, but also as the facilitator of these talks.
“And I think that what you personally, but also your prime minister, the Field Marshal, what you have been doing is really a service to the world, and hence also to us,” he remarked.
He said that both sides exchanged views on regional stability, including Jammu and Kashmir and security challenges originating from Afghanistan.
Welcoming the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, he highlighted Norway’s close ties with both nations, including joint efforts with Saudi Arabia on a two-state solution for Palestine.
Calling climate change as a critical foreign policy issue and highlighting Pakistan’s vulnerability to severe flooding, he called for an end to armed conflicts to redirect global attention toward shared challenges of climate change, nature conservation, global health and poverty alleviation.
