Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday was accorded a warm reception and a guard of honour at the Austrian Chancellery, where he arrived to meet Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker. As the prime minister arrived at the venue of the formal reception ceremony, he was welcomed by Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker. The national anthems of Pakistan and Austria were played.

The honor guards of Austria presented a guard of honour to the prime minister, which he reviewed and the Austrian chancellor accompanied him. Both leaders introduced their respective delegations to each other before proceeding for tête-à-tête and the delegation-level talks, wherein both sides will take stock of the entire gamut of bilateral relations. 

The prime minister also penned his remarks in the guest book at the Chancellery. Accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Special Assistant to PM Syed Tariq Fatemi, and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch, Prime Minister Shehbaz is on a two-day official visit here at the invitation Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker. 

This visit marks 70 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This visit by Prime Minister Shehbaz to Vienna marks the first visit by a Pakistani prime minister to Austria in over three decades, the last having been undertaken by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)