Federal Minister for Railways, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi has termed Romania an important friendly nation within the European Union (EU) and beyond.
For many decades both Romania and Pakistan have been expanding partnership in diverse areas and Pakistan highly values the Romanian support in different areas such as education, trade and development.
He expressed these views while addressing as Chief Guest the National Day of Romania hosted by Ambassador Dr Dan Stoenescu of Romania here Thursday at the Movenpick.
The reception turned out to be a great gathering of friends, diplomats, parliamentarians, members of civil society and academia and business community. One could see in attendance Federal Minister for Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Faisal Karim Kundi, Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Barrister Daniyal Chaudhry, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Sharmila Faruqui, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief of Pakistan Observer Mr Faisal Zahid Malik and other notable guests in attendance at the reception.
The highlight of the reception was wonderful singing of the Romanian and the EU anthems by renowned Romanian Soprano Georgiana Costea Glugă. Pakistani duo Imran Parvez Khan and Iria Siona sang Pakistani anthem and won roaring applause as well.
Hanif Abbasi went on to say that Pakistan’s relations with Romania are quite friendly and mutually respectful. Both nations have enjoyed friendly relations for many years. There is great potential for even more close cooperation, he said. Pakistan considers Romania an important partner, he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, Ambassador Dan Stoenescu said as we celebrate Romania’s National Day and over six decades of diplomatic relations, we look back with pride at all that Romania and Pakistan have achieved together.
December 1 is the National Day of Romania, a moment to celebrate the Great Union of 1918, the historic moment that brought together all Romanian provinces into one modern and unified state, he said. The ambassador said he had travelled extensively across Pakistan—Karachi, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and many other cities—to meet partners and boost our economic cooperation. These visits helped open new doors for trade, investment and business dialogue, he remarked. He mentioned launching of the first-ever Romania–Pakistan IT Forum, bringing over 100 companies from both countries into direct contact. The historic event sets the foundation for new partnerships in technology, innovation and digital transformation. In November, we celebrated the first edition of the Romanian Cultural Days in Pakistan. Through film screenings, art exhibitions and music concerts in Karachi and Islamabad, we showcased Romania’s diversity and strengthened people-to-people connections, said the ambassador. On war in Ukraine, he said, recently, Russia has brought the war literally to Romania’s doorstep. Repeated drone attacks on Ukrainian ports along the Danube have triggered multiple alerts in our border regions, after drones repeatedly struck ships on the Ukrainian side.
Romania, he said would continue to support Ukraine—as it has from the very first moments of the Russian aggression — in order to achieve a just and lasting peace and to put an end to the bloodshed. The era we live in, he said was defined by rapid changes and evolving challenges, requires constant and dynamic adaptation. Yet our membership in the European Union, our membership in NATO, our Strategic Partnership with the United States, and our ongoing dialogue and cooperation with international partners remain constant and defining pillars of the work carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, he concluded.
