ISLAMABAD
Ambassador of Portugal Fredrico Silva has said Portugal supported the recent election of Pakistan to a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for the period 2025/26. ‘I also would like to remind that Portugal is candidate to the equivalent position for the biennium 2026/27. We consistently support the indispensable role of the United Nations, including its Secretary-General, the Portuguese António Guterres’.
The ambassador expressed these views on the occasion of the National Day of Portugal, celebrated at the Islamabad Serena Hotel. Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Federal Minister for Housing, Minister Maritime Affairs Qaisar Ahmed Shiekh, Director General ISPR Lt. General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also attended the event.
The ambassador said, the bilateral relations between Portugal and Pakistan are long and well established, friendly and based on trust and cooperation. ‘Since my arrival to Pakistan, February last year, I have been able to travel extensively inside this big and fascinating country, visiting, among other places, Lahore and Karachi, Faisalabad and Peshawar, Nowshera and Abbotabad, Murrey and Taxila, Chilas and Gilgit-Baltistan’.
In 1949, Portugal established an Embassy in Karachi, what was followed in 1954 by the opening of the Embassy of Pakistan in Lisbon. Political bilateral consulations were held last year in Lisbon. A new round is expected to take place in Islamabad in the medium term.
As of today, the main areas of bilateral interaction, both at oficial and civil society levels, include Renewable Energy and Water Management, Education and Culture, Tourism and Agriculture, Blue Economy and Green Techonologies, Trade and Investments. On Ukraine, he said, it has to be clearly reminded that sovereignty and territorial integrity are the cornerstone of international order. Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine creates a very dangerous precedent for the rest of the world; it must be stopped.
Talking about Palestine issue, the ambassador said, Portugal strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli offensive in Raffah and is gravely concerned with the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation. ‘We also maintain our longstanding position of respect for the jurisdiction, independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court’.
He said, Portugal considered the recognition of the Palestinian State as an important step, with the underlying concern of choosing the best timing and context, to maximize its effect and send a positive political message to both parties. Giving a historical background, he said, Portugal is one of the oldest nation states on Earth. Today we celebrate 885years of existence, since 1139.
