German Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Dr. Tobias Linder, visited Islamabad from 4 March to 7 March 2023. During this first visit of his to Pakistan, he held political talks with his counterpart Minister of State Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Federal Minster of Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman and Minister of Commerce Mr. Syed Naveed Qamar. In these meetings, issues of mutual concern were discussed in depth, from bilateral relations to regional politics.
Dr. Linder underlined the strategic role of Pakistan:
“As Pakistan is facing a multitude of challenges, Germany stands firmly by the people of Pakistan. We share key interests, and Pakistan is playing a decisive role for stability in the region. I am here to continue our dialogue. We want to deepen our close bilateral partnership and intensify our cooperation in various areas including in the fight against climate change, by which Pakistan is deeply affected as last year’s catastrophic floods have shown.”
Minister of State Dr. Linder also met with the Chief of General Staff, Lt. General Muhammad Saeed to exchange views on regional security and stability.
Dr. Linder held talks with representatives of think tanks as well as with journalists and human rights activists. He paid a visit to the Pakistan Monument.
This visit follows an intensive schedule of high-level bilateral meetings over the last months, the last of which took place between Foreign Ministers Annalena Baerbock and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February.