ISLAMABAD - European Union has invited Prime Minister Im­ran Khan to visit the EU in Brussels to meet top leaders of European Commission for discussion on bilateral relations and cooperation including trade and economy.

The invitation has been extended through dip­lomatic channels, which Prime Minister Khan has accepted. “The visit would take place soon, dates of the visit of the Prime Minister Khan are being worked out”, a diplomatic source told The Nation yesterday.

Imran would be the first Pakistani leader in the last ten years to visit the EU, as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani last visited EU in 2010 and interacted with EU and European Commission leadership.

This week both Pakistan and EU made two high profile contacts, first was a virtual meeting of the Pakistan-EU joint commission on 16th June, in which bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and EU was reviewed in different fields.

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the European Union High Represen­tative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President (HR/VP) of the European Commission Josep Borrell met on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on June 18. 

Diplomatic sources said the Foreign Office and EU officials are working out possible engage­ments of PM Imran Khan including his expect­ed meetings with EU high representative, Secre­tary General NATO, and his meeting and address to EU Commission in Brussels.