The incoming US consul general in Karachi, Michael Dodman, said on Thursday he was looking forward to being and working in Karachi, since, he thought, it would be a challenging assignment.

In his very brief and pithy speech at an Iftar-cum-dinner which he hosted at his residence on for the city’s business community, the consul-general said Karachi was going to be his home for the next two years and he was happy at the prospect.

“I wanted to be here because, I thought, we could do so much for the vibrant civil society here. So much is happening here and we think that the US diplomatic mission in Karachi could play a very constructive role in bringing peace and harmony to the city and in consolidating Pakistan-US relations,” Dodman said.

He also praised the cooperative and efficient staff of the US mission in Karachi and said he was really looking forward to working shoulder to shoulder with them.

The US diplomat said he couldn’t talk to the press on the occasion but in due course would be interacting with the media, beginning very soon.

The American consul general has held a number of key diplomatic posts, including that of the US representative to the European Community (EC) headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

The well-attended Iftar dinner saw all the familiar faces, including Majyd Aziz and Qaiser Bengali. Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro and Information Minister Sharjeel Memon were among politicians who attended the event.

The most notable personality among the guests was Karachi’s internationally acclaimed philanthropist and the main source of comfort and succour to the Karachiites in times of trouble and turmoil, Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi.

There were also heads of foreign cultural organisations and multinationals, notably the Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan.