Untold story of Pakistan

I landed on the soil of Pakistan last June along with my family. Sultry weather continued for months with temperatures over 45 degrees. When I was appointed as ambassador to Pakistan, some of my close friends comforted me, expressing concerns brought on by unfortunate news from the country such as terrorist attacks, flash flooding, earthquakes, etc. However, another side of Pakistan came to my attention after spending about 10 months.

I still have a vivid memory of the Mango Festival, which was held at the Presidential House for the first time last August. It was organised to promote various mangoes produced in Pakistan and many kinds of mango products were displayed such as mango fruits, mango juice and mango cakes, etc. Among all kinds of mangoes, the most highly regarded is the small but tasty mango from Multan, the city of saints. History tells us that Alexander the Great crossed the Indus River and advanced up to the city in an eastward expedition, however, he made a decision to retreat while he was staying in Multan. Armies of Alexander the Great crossed the Khyber Pass in the mountains dividing Afghanistan and Pakistan. People with blue eyes and blond hair still reside near Kalash Valley, and claim to be descendants of the Greeks.

In the 4^th century, Marananta, a Pakistani Buddhist monk visited Korea via China and introduced Buddhism to the Korean land, which marks the beginning of cultural exchanges between Pakistan and Korea. In the 8^th century, a Korean monk named Hyecho travelled the region of Peshawar and Gilgit, leaving a famous travelogue, ‘Memoir of Pilgrimage.’ Prototypes of the Buddha statue at the Seokguram Grotto in Korea are also found in the museums of Peshawar and Taxila. In the Lahore Museum, the world-famous ‘Fasting Buddha’ is siting with its blood vessels clearly showing due to several years of asceticism. Of course, Pakistan is home of the Indus Civilisation, one of the four most prosperous ancient civilizations, well represented by Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa historic sites. Hunza village, located in the northeastern part of Pakistan, is known as a village of longevity. The mountainous area of Northern Pakistan is one of the world’s top ten sceneries, officially designated by Unesco, along with the Grand Canyon in the US and Lake Louis in Canada. You can enjoy the picturesque scenes of the Karakoram Mountains topped with perennial snow from anywhere in the village.

Unfortunately, Pakistan lost early momentum for economic development since independence from Great Britain in 1947. Even today, Pakistan is suffering from terrorism and civil war in another neighbour — Afghanistan. However, there is a new hope. The Peshawar school attack, which took the lives of about 140 innocent students in December 2014, was a turning point. In response, an intense counter-terrorism operation, Zarb-e-Azb, was initiated. Based on national consensus, Zarb-e-Azb drastically reduced the frequency and intensity of terrorism by 80%. Since then, a solid virtuous circle has been formed and reinforced between improved security and economic progress. Last July, Morgan-Stanley upgraded Pakistan to the category of ‘emerging market.’ Furthermore, almost all macro-economic indicators are in good shape. Now, Pakistan is on the right track for sustainable development.

Today, construction of a number of power plants is in full swing in order to maximise the potential of industrial production which has been restrained by chronic energy shortages. It is expected that power cuts will disappear in two to three years. China is promoting CPEC projects worth $46 billion in Pakistan as part of a grand strategy of the One Belt, One Road initiative. The word of ‘CPEC’ is used as a synonym for economic development.

Many Korean companies are actively doing business in Pakistan like Sambu, Lotte, Daerim, Daewoo, Samsung, LG, Hyundai, KIA, etc, in various sectors like infrastructure, hydropower generation, chemicals, confectionaries, electronics and automobiles. Pakistani people harbour a very favorable attitude towards Korea. At the same time, Pakistanis are eager to learn from ‘the Korean Miracle,’ which refers to the rapid economic development from the ashes of the Korean War. They are well aware of the fact that M-2 Motorway between Islamabad and Lahore was built by a Korean company and many high-quality electronic items such as TVs, refrigerators and cellular phones circulating in the market are made in Korea.

It is another source of pleasure to see thriving cultural exchanges between Pakistan and Korea. Last July, a K-pop festival was held at NUML for the first time and a Korean soap opera titled ‘Jewel in the Palace’ was broadcast on PTV Home with the local name of ‘Nageen.’ Some Korean short stories were translated into Urdu, and carried by the Nawa-e-Waqt. This year, the Gandhara Arts Exhibition will be held in Korea, where many artefacts and sculptures from the Peshawar Museum will be displayed in the heart of Seoul. Furthermore, many Pakistani youths are now learning the Korean language and are coming to Korea with ‘Korean dreams’ in their minds.

As the Korean Ambassador, I would love to visualise the picture of more Korean people and companies coming to this land of hope. While I look up to the night sky with the moon and a star like the symbols found in the national flag of Pakistan, I am dreaming of mutual and simultaneous economic growth of Pakistan and Korea, hand in hand in the years to come.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2017.

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