Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide arrived in Islamabad on Thursday, the first such visit in a decade.

He was received at the airport by Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe) Ambassador Ayesha Ali, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

He was later received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

In a statement on Wednesday, the FO said the minister is undertaking the visit from Aug 13-14 at Dar’s invitation. During the visit, the two will hold delegation-level talks covering the full spectrum of Pakistan-Norway relations, it said.

“The two sides will discuss avenues for further expanding bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade and investment, climate change, renewable energy, education and people-to-people contacts.

“They will also exchange views on important regional and international developments,” it added.

It said that the visit would build on high-level engagement between the two countries, including phone conversation between Dar and Eide in March and April, and the visit of Norway’s State Secretary Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik to Islamabad in May.

The FO stated that the visit would provide an opportunity to “further strengthen the longstanding and cordial relations between Pakistan and Norway and to explore new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation”.