William Hague Lauds Launching of Conservative ‘Friends of Pakistan’ Group
in British Parliament
On the occasion of Annual Conservative Party Conference
held in Birmingham, the Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Mr. Wajid Shamsul
Hasan hosted a reception for the Conservative party delegates. The reception
was attended by a large number of senior members of the Conservative Party
Shadow Cabinet. These included Mr. William Hague Shadow Foreign Secretary, Alan
Duncan, Shadow Secretary for Business, Enterprise
and Regulatory Reform, Baroness Saiyeda Warsi Shadow Secretary for Community
Cohesion, Baroness Pauline Neville Jones Chairperson of the Conservative Party
Group on National and International Security. The Reception was also attended
by Mr. Sajjad Karim, member of the European Parliament and Chairman, Friends of
Pakistan Group in the European Parliament, Lord Iltaf Sheikh of Cornhill,
Chairman Conservative Muslim Forum and Vice-chair Conservative Parliamentary
Friends of Pakistan, Mr. Rob Wilson MP from Reading East and Chairman of
Conservative Parliamentary Friends of Pakistan Group, Baroness Varma and
Barrister Rahman Chishti, a prospective Tory party candidate for Gillingham
constituency.
In his address to a large gathering the Shadow Foreign
Secretary William Hague lauded the launching of Conservative Friends of
Pakistan Group in the British Parliament and said that there is a lot of
enthusiasm among his party members for friendship with Pakistan. He
said, “We believe in this friendship very strongly,” Hague recalled his recent
visit to Pakistan with the
party leader David Cameron and said that his party is mindful of the
difficulties Pakistan is
currently facing and the loss of precious lives in the recent Islamabad hotel bombing. This huge loss
together with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto for the cause of democracy,
he said, moved the people of UK
very much. He spoke of optimism and hope in Pakistan and said during their
visit, they had good exchange of views with leaders of all the major political
parties.
The High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan termed the
launching of the Conservative Friends of Pakistan Group as a ‘historic day’ and
expressed his gratitude to MP Rob Wilson, Lord Iltaf Sheikh and others for
taking keen interest in the formation of the group. He said relations with UK form the centre piece of Pakistan’s
foreign policy as both countries shared history and a common vision of
partnership for global peace in the 21st century. The High Commissioner noted
that the new democratic government led by Pakistan Peoples Party envisions Pakistan as a
modern, liberal and progressive country and is making efforts for the
prosperity and welfare of its people. Beset with internal and external
challenges, the new government from the very onset has pursued a policy of
national reconciliation with all major political forces and is of the firm view
that only when there is a broad national consensus can there be
effective implementation of policies.
The High Commissioner said Pakistan
expects from its friends in the UK
and elsewhere to support and co-operate with it and provide space to the
democratic government to find solutions to problems such as terrorism and the
resolution of Kashmir dispute.
London
29 September 2008
