Africa is continent of future: Andleeb Abbas

Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs says working on strengthening ties with African nations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has special focus on Africa which is the continent of the future, said Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas on Thursday.

In her address at the graduation ceremony of six-week junior diplomatic course which was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she said that Foreign Office had organised an Envoys Conference titled ‘Engage Africa’ to chart out a roadmap to further strengthen and deepen Pakistan’s ties with African nations.

Abbas said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was ambassador of peace and his vision of “peaceful neighbourhood” was a cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

She also underlined the importance of diplomacy as fundamental tool to promote peace and strengthen relations. She added that the diplomats of these countries would be ambassadors of Pakistan in their countries.

Foreign Service Academy (FSA) Director General Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher said that the course helped to create better understanding of Pakistan’s foreign policy and environment conducive to economic in Pakistan.

Khokher said that the course also provided a unique networking opportunity. He further said that the Academy was imparting training not only for Pakistani diplomats but also for the foreign diplomats since 1981 and have trained over 1,400 FSP officers and 1,372 diplomats from 107 Countries. He congratulated the participants for becoming part of FSA Alumni.

The Mauritian diplomat, speaking on behalf of the participants, said that the course would create a network between their countries and help in strengthening bonds of durable relations.

She said that junior diplomatic course was a testimony of the strong desire and commitment of the government of Pakistan to strengthen relations with friendly countries. She also said that all diplomats benefitted from the experience and knowledge of senior Pakistani diplomats, eminent scholars and personalities.

Nineteen diplomats from 14 friendly countries Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Iran, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine and Tunisia participated in the course. Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Abbas distributed the certificates.  

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2019.