Pakistan welcomes ARF's decision

Pakistan welcomes ARF's decision

PAKISTAN: Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri on Thursday welcomed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) senior official's decision to recommend Pakistan's admission to the forum.

Senior officials from the ARF had on Wednesday recommended in Yogyakarta, Indonesia that Pakistan be allowed to join the security-related body at its next ministerial meeting, scheduled to be held at Jakarta on June 30 to July 2.

"This is yet another success for Pakistan's foreign policy," Kasuri told a press conference in Islamabad.

He said the decision came close on the heels of the European Union's decision to ratify the Third Generation Agreement thereby raising the level of the country's political and economic interaction with the EU as well as notification of Pakistan as a major Non-NATO ally. --DPA