ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Thursday said that Pakistan would welcome European Union to play its role as mediator on bilateral issues with India.

He was addressing a joint press conference with his counterpart foreign minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn here at Foreign Office today on his first visit to Pakistan.

Shah Mehmood said that India has always proposed a bilateral dialogue process and whenever Pakistan brings in the third party, India shows its preference for a bilateral table talk.

The Minister said Pakistan and Luxembourg had delegation level talks regarding mutual interests, bilateral trade, and investments.“We had discussion over Pakistan’s FATF status, post-Pulwama attack scenario and developments on Afghan peace process”, he added.

Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn appreciated Pakistan’s significant role in defusing the tension between the two regional powers and thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for his goodwill gesture of releasing captured Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.

To a question, he said that no one in world favored the arm conflict in the region.

He stressed that both the countries knew that it was not only the terrorism solely but resolving the Kashmir issue could bring a significant change in the bilateral relations.

The minister also lauded Pakistan’s role in the ongoing Afghan peace talks. “We welcome Pakistan’s effort to facilitate talks between US and Taliban. Peaceful Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest and we believe that Pakistan has really important influence in this regard”, he added.

Commenting on the trade between the two countries, Shah Mehmood said that both sides discussed a number of potential areas for trade in terms of bilateral cooperation such as health, energy sector, infrastructure, technology and environment.

“Pakistan has natural resources of many precious gems and we look forward to take advantage of Luxemburg’s expertise in that area”, he added.

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