First public engagement: Sherry vows to ‘transform’ Pak-US ties
Newly appointed envoy hosts dinner for Pakistani American community.
WASHINGTON:
In her first public engagement since assuming office two weeks ago, Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman reached out to the Pakistani-American community and sought their support to bring the two countries together.
“This embassy is not going to work alone in Washington. It’s going to work with many ambassadors, who are yourselves, to attempt to change the way this important bilateral relationship works,” she said.
Referring to Pak-US relations, the ambassador said that these are certainly not ‘normal’ times. The relationship between Washington and Islamabad has never been as important, yet the tensions have never been so grave, she added.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, a comprehensive parliamentary review is under way to establish new principles for this relationship. The review will reflect a multi-partisan parliamentary consensus and the support of the Pakistani people, said the ambassador.
“As Pakistani-Americans, I want you to know that I will rely heavily on you as the extended arm of this embassy and its consulates in getting our message delivered to the American public. Every one of you is our mouthpiece. Every one of you is our lobbyist,” she added.
The ambassador said: “Our friends in the United States must know that our sacrifices in the war on terror far outnumber those of any other international or Nato coalition partner in Afghanistan. Yet, I’m not here with a grievance narrative.”
Referring to economic ties, she said bilateral relations should move from dependency to partnership, from aid to trade. “We will prefer to be economic and political partners and not just battlefield allies.”
One of the ambassador’s priorities will be the formation of a Pakistan-American leadership caucus, which will serve as the main vehicle for strategic interventions to build a new relationship with the US, and to promote ‘a new Pakistan’. She will also initiate a new cultural outreach programme to showcase the ‘real Pakistan’.
Ambassador Sherry assured members from all religious communities hailing from Pakistan that the embassy and its consulates general would always welcome them and that their empowerment was in fact, the missions’ empowerment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012.
In her first public engagement since assuming office two weeks ago, Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman reached out to the Pakistani-American community and sought their support to bring the two countries together.
“This embassy is not going to work alone in Washington. It’s going to work with many ambassadors, who are yourselves, to attempt to change the way this important bilateral relationship works,” she said.
Referring to Pak-US relations, the ambassador said that these are certainly not ‘normal’ times. The relationship between Washington and Islamabad has never been as important, yet the tensions have never been so grave, she added.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, a comprehensive parliamentary review is under way to establish new principles for this relationship. The review will reflect a multi-partisan parliamentary consensus and the support of the Pakistani people, said the ambassador.
“As Pakistani-Americans, I want you to know that I will rely heavily on you as the extended arm of this embassy and its consulates in getting our message delivered to the American public. Every one of you is our mouthpiece. Every one of you is our lobbyist,” she added.
The ambassador said: “Our friends in the United States must know that our sacrifices in the war on terror far outnumber those of any other international or Nato coalition partner in Afghanistan. Yet, I’m not here with a grievance narrative.”
Referring to economic ties, she said bilateral relations should move from dependency to partnership, from aid to trade. “We will prefer to be economic and political partners and not just battlefield allies.”
One of the ambassador’s priorities will be the formation of a Pakistan-American leadership caucus, which will serve as the main vehicle for strategic interventions to build a new relationship with the US, and to promote ‘a new Pakistan’. She will also initiate a new cultural outreach programme to showcase the ‘real Pakistan’.
Ambassador Sherry assured members from all religious communities hailing from Pakistan that the embassy and its consulates general would always welcome them and that their empowerment was in fact, the missions’ empowerment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2012.