Eduardo González
The Governments of Spain and Pakistan agreed yesterday on the resumption of annual bilateral consultations, interrupted since 2014, and the creation of a bilateral working group in charge of addressing the legal situation of the nearly 130,000 Pakistanis currently residing in Spain.
This was announced yesterday, in a joint press conference, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after meeting at the Viana Palace, in Madrid.
On September 10, Albares paid the first official visit of a Spanish Foreign Minister to Pakistan since the establishment of diplomatic relations, which in 2021 celebrated its 70th anniversary. On that trip “we agreed to boost the bilateral relationship” and that momentum was manifested yesterday in the intention of both countries to “resume soon the political consultations at the level of secretaries of state”, the minister said at the press conference.
The mechanism of annual bilateral consultations at the level of Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs was put in place in application of the Protocol signed by both Ministries in March 2006. However, the consultations were not launched until the first round was held in March 2014 in Madrid and the fifth round, scheduled for 2019 in the Spanish capital, is yet to be held. “The minister’s visit to Pakistan was the beginning of a new stage in the excellent political relations” and for that reason, “we have agreed to hold the fifth round of annual bilateral consultations as soon as possible,” Qureshi added.
During yesterday’s meeting, the two ministers inevitably addressed the situation in Afghanistan and Albares expressed his appreciation for Qureshi’s “personal help and commitment” in the second phase of evacuation of “the Afghan collaborators from Spain and their families.” “It has been an honor to participate in the safe repatriation of Spanish citizens and Afghan personnel who have worked with Spanish troops and we will continue to support them whenever necessary,” the Pakistani minister responded. Albares also said that, after the second phase of evacuation – carried out on October 11 and 12 – another 203 people have left Afghanistan for Spain through different countries, thanks to diplomatic work without publicity and “without news”. Most of these people, 173, left through Pakistan and the rest from Turkey, Kazakhstan and India.
Apart from this, Albares and Qureshi also discussed yesterday the legal situation of the 130,000 or so Pakistani nationals residing and working in Spain, especially in Catalonia. In this regard, the Pakistani minister conveyed to his Spanish colleague the interest shown by his fellow citizens in favor of a dual nationality treaty between the two countries.
“Pakistanis want dual nationality,” he explained. “There are constitutional challenges, processes and deadlines, but we have agreed to discuss this issue with an open mind” because “the idea is to facilitate the life of this community, which is very integrated into Spanish society and contributes enormously to the economic development of Spain,” he added. For his part, Albares specified that the two parties had reached an agreement to “set up a working group headed by both ambassadors”, in order to “make progress on the issue and facilitate the life of the Pakistanis, who are perfectly integrated into Spanish social life”.
