Pakistan plans to open consulate in Iraq’s Kurdistan region

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ambassador to Iraq Ahmad Amjad Ali said on Sunday his country had sought permission from Baghdad to open its consulates in different areas of the Arab state including Irbil Governate in Kurdistan region.
Last year in May, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Baghdad to identify areas of bilateral cooperation between the two states.
He also maintained they could share their counterterrorism experience with each other.
“Pakistan has not only requested to open a consulate in Irbil but also in two more regions,” the Pakistan envoy told Arab News. “I have discussed this during my meeting with the new deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament as it is a bilateral issue.”
According to a statement released after the meeting by the media office of Deputy Speaker of Iraq’s Council of Representatives Shakhwan Abdullah, the two officials discussed issues of mutual interest including international efforts to combat terrorism and eradicate its root causes.

They also discussed ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in other fields.
“The Pakistani mission has an old pending request before the Iraqi government to open consulates,” said the ambassador. “As the embassy of Iraq in Pakistan has a consulate in Karachi, so we also want to open consulates in the Arab country.”
He added the Kurdistan region had about 40 different consulates and described it as the hub of economic activities in Iraq.
“Out of a total of 12,000 Pakistani expatriates in Iraq, nearly 4,000 are employed in the Kurdistan region,” he continued.
Asked about the names of the other regions where Pakistan wanted to open its consulates, the ambassador said he could not tell the exact locations since they were still under discussion.
“Whenever they decide as per their government policy, they will inform us,” he said while referring to the Iraqi authorities.