On Thursday, 8 June 2023, Ambassador Azhar attended a Roundtable Session with the ASEAN Committee in Islamabad (ACI), chaired by His Excellency Dr. Asad Majeed Khan, Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan has been a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN since 1993 and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) since 2004.
The purpose of the session was to strengthen the partnership between Pakistan and ASEAN. The Foreign Secretary emphasized Pakistan's commitment to actively engage with ASEAN member states and shared the efforts taken by Pakistan to enhance its engagement with ASEAN. The Foreign Secretary informed ACI on the proposed and implemented projects by Pakistan in collaboration with ASEAN from 2021 to 2023.
During the session, seven (7) Islamabad-based ASEAN Heads of Mission (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) provided constructive input to strengthen ASEAN-Pakistan relations. Speaking in his capacity as the current Chair of
