Italian ambassador sees Swat as vital East-West link

Vicenzo Prati recounts historic ties between Pakistan and Italy.

SWAT:

Italian Ambassador Vincenzo Prati has hailed his country’s deep ties with Swat, saying the region’s rich cultural history makes it an important connection between the East and the West.

“In terms of physical aspects, you see people with Roman features in this part of the world. Elements of Mediterranean culture have been present in Swat for the last 3,000 years. The valley is a sort of bridge connecting the two countries,” Prati said in an interview with The Express Tribune.

The ambassador said that there were great similarities between the Mediterranean civilisation and the Gandhara civilisation, which existed in Swat and which the Italian Archaeological Mission, headquartered in Saidu Sharif since 1956, has helped uncover in Pakistan.

“In this global world, we need connections to Asia. So in our view the big value of the 55 years of work carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission is that this part remained a bridge, a corridor between East and West,” he said.

He said that the mission plans to set up an office at Saidu Sharif to coordinate its activities in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan, Nepal, China and India. He said that the Italian people were greatly concerned by the recent upheavals in Swat, where Taliban insurgents briefly set up government in 2009. The Italian government had pushed G8 countries to focus on development projects in Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, he said.

The ambassador spoke at length about the history of Italy-Pakistan relations, which he said dated to the birth of the country.

After the Second World War, Italy helped with the exploration of K2. In the 1960s, Italian construction companies took part in various infrastructure projects in Pakistan, particularly Tarbela Dam. “So we have had a solid relationship since the beginning and we enjoy complete political understanding at the UN Security Council,” the ambassador said.

He said that there was a special programme for Pakistani archaeology students to study in Italy. An agreement has been signed between Rome University and Quaid-i-Azam University for student exchange trips.

Pakistan’s future

The ambassador said Pakistan should and could be on the path to economic development like neighbours India and China in order to defeat terrorism. “I am very much confident that Pakistan will do it [develop] very soon because there is no reason to think otherwise,” Prati said.

He said that development was the answer to terrorism. “In my view if people have a chance for a better life, they will never get into terrorism. So we will support development projects because the main issue behind terrorism is lack of development.”

The ambassador added that he believed Pakistan was going through a transitional phase and would emerge stronger. “We know that Pakistan is passing through a transition which is very difficult, which is very painful, but we should be patient. We should be very much optimistic.”

He added: “My message to all my Pakistani brothers is to be confident in the present hard times because you have a great history, you are a great nation and you have a great country with rich resources. We believe that a very good and bright future lies in front of you.”

Pratti added that Italy considered the 90,000 Pakistanis working in Italy as assets. “We also want to increase the number of Italians in Pakistan in different sectors,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2011.