Norwegian FM arrives today

ISLAMABAD: Norwegian Foreign Minister Janos Guhrstore is arriving in Islamabad today (Sunday) on a two-day official visit and will leave for Afghanistan on Monday.

The Foreign Office spokesman while confirming the visit said that the visiting dignitary would be meeting caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro and Foreign Minister Inamul Haq but there is no confirmed report about his meeting with the president.

“Yes, it is an official visit and bilateral discussions as well as economic and political cooperation will be discussed. There is a sizeable number of Pakistanis in Norway,” the spokesman said.

The Norwegian foreign minister, who has a very tight schedule, will be taking time out to meet PPP leaders and offer his and his government’s condolences on the tragic assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Janos Guhrstore was in Pakistan last year also. But what most Pakistanis remember is the visit of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to the earthquake-affected areas of Azad Kashmir. Images are still fresh in the minds of the Kashmiris as the shoeless prime minister sat down on the floor, with children who had survived and attempted to strike up conversations with them.