PM Shehbaz lands in Vienna, set to meet top IAEA, UN officials

• Shehbaz received with armed forces salute at Vienna Airport.
• First Pakistani PM visit to Austria in over 30 years since 1992.
• High-level delegation includes Dar, Tarar, Fatemi, and Baloch.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday reached Vienna to commence a two-day official tour of Austria, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said, highlighting efforts to deepen bilateral cooperation.

“The prime minister and the Pakistani delegation were warmly welcomed upon arrival at the Vienna International Airport, and a contingent of the Austrian Armed Forces presented a salute,” read the statement released by the PMO.

The prime minister shared on X that he has arrived in Vienna, describing the Austrian capital as a “city of history, culture, and global diplomacy.”

“I look forward to my meeting with Chancellor Christian Stocker to further strengthen the bonds of friendship between Pakistan and Austria,” the premier said, and added that their focus would be trade, investment and economic cooperation.

Shehbaz, in the same post, said he would also hold meetings with the leaders of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the UN Industrial Development Organisation during his visit.

These engagements, he said, would focus on “deepening our cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy, counter-narcotics and crime control, [and] sustainable industrial development and shared progress”.

Raising the curtain on the visit, the Foreign Office said that PM Shehbaz will undertake an official visit to Vienna from February 15 to 16, 2026.

He is visiting the central European country at the invitation of its leader, Chancellor Stocker.

“The Prime Minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information Mr Attaullah Tarar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch,” the statement added.

According to the Foreign Office, “During the visit, the prime minister will hold bilateral talks with his Austrian counterpart to review the full spectrum of bilateral relations.” 

He will also chair a meeting of the Pakistan–Austria Business Forum, organised by the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO), and visit key multilateral organisations, it added.

The statement highlighted that “Pakistan and Austria enjoy cordial and friendly relations, underpinned by shared values of dialogue, cooperation, multilateralism, and respect for international law.”

This will be the first visit by a Pakistani Prime Minister to Austria in over three decades, following the last trip by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992, the Foreign Office added.