‘Au revoir’ & not goodbye

Islamabad

To thank ‘dear colleagues and friends for their love, friendship and warm support for over a decade and to say goodbye to their second home,’ the Ambassador of Argentina, Rodolfo Martin-Saravia and spouse Susana hosted a reception at their residence. Needless to say it was attended by many of their friends in the capital, including officials -- both in and out of the corridors of power, among the latter former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani who dropped in for a while. Another notable figure was Fatima Bhutto who came from Karachi especially for the occasion.

In his address to the large gathering, the host thanked everyone for their friendship, help and support throughout his nearly dozen years in Pakistan; apologized if he had offended anyone and also remembered those whom he had known but had passed away – former foreign minister Sahibzada being mentioned by name. “I want to particularly thank his elegant wife Tooba, who is present here, for making the effort to come here today,” he said. He also thanked some other persons, as well as those who had sponsored some of the events he had organized, saying it had not always been possible to do everything on his own because of paucity of funds. Susana preferred not to say anything except exchange a few words with Rodolfo, which gave a light touch to an otherwise emotional moment. “The people of Pakistan are its biggest asset,” he said. “I will be coming back to visit my friends,” so this is not a final goodbye.”

There were many remarks from different people about what Islamabad would be like without this very active ambassador who had made friends wherever he travelled in the country – farewell events have also been organised for him in Lahore and Karachi. Speaking of which there still a few to go in Islamabad before he finally says au revoir in a few days time!

 As someone remarked, it is the end of an era. No other envoy has ever been so active or done so much to get to know the country and people of his ‘second home’ as he has managed to do. For his work in promoting bilateral relations between Pakistan and Argentina, he was awarded with Pakistan’s highest civil award, the Hilal-e-Pakistan, adding to the collection of awards given by other countries where he has served as envoy. As he jokingly remarked, “I will now be Pakistan’s ambassador in Argentina and that too without a salary.”