Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ambassador Saad Khattak is set to depart to his homeland after completing his tenure in Sri Lanka.
Issuing a statement Ambassador Khattak said “It has been a unique honor to have served Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka for almost 2 years. Though like everywhere else the challenges of Covid-19 eclipsed the tempo of activities, yet we did not give in to the difficulties even for a day and moved on.”
He said Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts peaked with the successful visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Sri Lanka in February 2021 and revealed that Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is likely to visit Pakistan soon.
The Ambassador went on to highlight certain aspects that had strengthened diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka during his term.
The Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka’s economic diplomacy remained successful by maintaining our yearly trade volume despite the pandemic. Many visible efforts to sabotage our exports by the Indian lobby within and from outside failed through our successful engagements with the highest offices in the Sri Lankan Government.
The cultural and public diplomacy was taken to a new level culminating in the visit of Most Venerable Monks to Pakistan in April 2021 that will serve as a catalyst to Buddhist religious tourism to Pakistan.
Understandable frustration and panic are clearly visible in the neighborhood demonstrated through publishing Fake News every now and then using hired elements. A state-of-the-art documentary on Gandhara Buddhist Heritage in Pakistan has also been prepared by the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka to further boost our people-to-people contacts through enhanced religious tourism. The era of monopolies is over. Our Sri Lankan brethren deserve to visit their most sacred places of worship in Pakistan and seek blessings.
Ambassador Khattak further said “I and my officers visited schools, colleges, universities, temples, and presented computers, sports, and stationery items from the people of Pakistan to deserving boys and girls. We conducted tests for the selection of bright students for fully funded scholarships as part of the Allam Iqbal scholarship program. Malicious efforts by the known quarters to make the effort controversial hitting at ethnic harmony have also badly failed.
All in all, a very satisfying period in which we tried our best despite the challenges of the pandemic and other allied limitations. I am deeply indebted to my team of officers and staff at our Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka for making all this possible.
Without the wholehearted support of staff at the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka, we won’t have succeeded in achieving what we have. I still feel that as the leadership and ministerial levels, and as friendly countries having so much potential and goodwill, we can do a lot more to further boost our relations, he added.
Ambassador Saad Khattak went on to say that “As I move back to Pakistan, I wish the team at the Pakistan High Commissioner to Sri Lanka led by a new team Captain the very best in taking the relations to even newer heights from where I left. “
“Long Live Pakistan – Sri Lanka Friendship”, he concluded. (NewsWire)