Barely three months after Narendra Modi made the first visit to Norway by an Indian prime minister in 43 years, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stood beside Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Thursday as the latter briefed him on Pakistan\u2019s position that Jammu and Kashmir \u201cremains one of the longstanding unresolved international disputes.\u201d
\nMr Eide also described Islamabad\u2019s mediation as a \u201cmassive task\u201d and said the work of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Mr Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir amounted to a \u201cservice to the world.\u201d
\nNorway had already declared full support for Pakistan-led mediation in April. Coming from a country that has invested decades in peace facilitation, from the Oslo process to Colombia and several other conflicts, such praise carries considerably more weight than routine diplomatic courtesy.
\nNorway is a founding NATO member, a close American ally and one of Europe\u2019s consequential maritime and energy powers. Its foreign minister discussed regional security and expanding defence engagement at GHQ, while also expressing interest in Pakistan\u2019s new trilateral defence arrangement with Saudi Arabia and T\u00fcrkiye\u2013three states with which, he noted, Norway maintains close relations. Pakistan\u2019s growing diplomatic profile is acquiring something more useful than favourable headlines: access across political and security establishments.
\nMr Dar also noted that Pakistan\u2019s IT exports to Norway have increased more than fivefold in two years, even as bilateral trade remains well below potential. Cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, Norwegian expertise in shipping and maritime regulation, skilled-labour pathways and existing commercial links such as Yara\u2019s partnership with Fauji Fertiliser offer considerably more substance. Mr Eide also described Norway\u2019s Pakistani diaspora as an argument for deeper economic ties.
\nPakistan has lately demonstrated that diplomatic usefulness can reopen doors once considered difficult to enter. The greater prize now lies in turning political access into investment, trade and sustained international attention to Pakistan\u2019s own concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barely three months after Narendra Modi made the first visit to Norway by an Indian prime minister in 43 years, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stood beside Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Thursday as the latter briefed him on Pakistan\u2019s position that Jammu and Kashmir \u201cremains one of the longstanding unresolved international […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n