Diplomatic services

Decision to close Pakistan's Embassy in Dublin is an unwise economy and a reversal of the decision would be welcome.

There are millions of people of Pakistani origin spread around the world, indeed it is probably true to say that there is a community, great or small, of people who have links to Pakistan in every country of the world. All these expatriate Pakistanis, from time to time, need visa or consular services and these are provided by diplomats from our own Foreign Office. The government has recently closed, as part of its austerity measure, our embassies in Chile and Ireland. Whilst there may be few of Pakistan origin in Chile, there are a considerable number in Ireland and they are not happy. It is usual for arrangements to be made for another country to ‘look after’ the interests of foreign nationals from a friendly state, but this does not appear to have happened as yet and around 18,000 people are without diplomatic representation.

The closure of these two missions is in line with the governmental austerity policy, but in the case of Ireland, we may be cutting off our nose to spite our face. Pakistanis living in Ireland have contributed to their homeland the second-highest level of remittances out of all the EU countries — $125 million. Surely, a group of people that it is in the national interest to care for. Their needs primarily relate to issues around the issuance or renewal of visas. Ireland may also feel slightly aggrieved as it has supported Pakistan with $7 million after the 2005 earthquake and in Brussels recently when we were seeking tax exemptions for our products. Ireland is considering opening an embassy in Islamabad, and closing our own embassy in Dublin does not send the right kind of diplomatic message to a European state that is very much ‘on side’ as far as Pakistan goes. Our mission in Dublin has been open since 2001, has a very small staff and appears to be worth preserving — the same cannot be said for the Chile outstation. There is diplomatic ‘fat’ to be sure, but this closure is an unwise economy and a reversal of the decision would be welcome.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.

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