French senators endeavour strengthening relations with Pakistan

Islamabad

Senator Pascal Allizard, Chairman of the France-Pakistan Friendship Group in the French Senate, heading a three-member delegation to a visit to Pakistan said that France, as well as the rest of the world appreciates the action being taken by Pakistan against the terrorists and extremist elements. 

Senator Allizard, accompanied by Senator Francoise Cartron, Vice-President of the Senate and Senator Patricia Morhet-Richaud, was talking to the media persons at the end of the second day of their visit to Islamabad at a local hotel here. 

“During our discussion here we talked about the menace of terrorism, which absolutely is unacceptable to all of us and we abhor it. We cooperate with Pakistan for the elimination of terrorism and extremism and we, as well as the world, appreciate the steps Pakistan is taking against these elements,” Senator Allizard said. 

He said that Pakistan is engaged in the fight against terrorism, extremism and radicalization and by doing so, it is sending out a strong message to the rest of the world. 

“The French people really don’t understand as to why they are being targeted. He said that the French government has taken certain measures against terrorism and when the French government tells them that it is because France is engaged in the global fight against terrorism, still they found it in comprehendible. People of France believe that these anti-terrorism measures amount to taking away their civil liberties,” Senator Allizard said with affirmative nods from the colleagues accompanying him. 

To a question Senator Allizard said that cooperation in the field of defence was continuing even after the unfortunate tragedy of killing of French engineers engaged on the Agosta submarine project in Karachi over a decade ago but would not elaborate as to what level of cooperation was that. “The answer to your question is ‘yes’, and that is it,” Senator Allizard said. 

Answering a question he said: “Indeed there is some sort of ‘Islamophobia’ prevailing in small groups of French society. But this is not shared by the majority of French population. Lots of work is on to introduce the real face of Islam. However, it is easy to deal with the Catholic Church which is more centralized, but is very difficult to deal with Islam because of its so many branches (sects). There is this, very clear concept that religion and belief is a private matter and that cannot be violated. Basic principal of French secularism is separation of the state from the Church,” he stressed. 

He said that France and Pakistan are enjoying very good relations and many a French companies are operating in Pakistan. “Since we landed here early yesterday morning we have had series of meetings including those with the Chairman of Senate of Pakistan, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as with the archeologists, the historians and educationists because Pakistan has a very rich archeological and cultural heritage and France is seriously engaged in many archaeological projects here. 

“We also met with the officials in the Higher Education Commission and discussed the prospects of cooperation. It is remarkable that the number of scholarships for higher education, Masters and PhD offered by the French government have gone up remarkably over the last few years,” he added. 

Talking about the prospects of democracy in Pakistan he said: “You have a Parliament, judiciary and a free press, which is the strength of democracy. So, there are bright prospects of democracy in Pakistan,” he said. 

About the prospects of French investment in Pakistan he said that the unstable tax rules and policies do prevent international investment here. “You know, the banking system and the things and unstable and ever-changing economic and tax policies. But we are going back home and we will tell the people there that it is still viable to invest in Pakistan,” he said. 

To another question he said that they were contemplating about opening a ‘French Cooking Institution’ in Pakistan. In the sports field, some sort of cooperation is going on somewhere in Karachi, he added.