New York plans to declare Sindh and Punjab sister states

An important resolution for Pakistan will be presented in the legislative assembly of New York State (NYS) on March 20. The demand to make Sindh and Punjab sister states of New York will be put forward through this resolution.

NYS Assembly Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos will present the resolution on Wednesday, and there is a strong possibility that this resolution will be passed immediately.

March has been specifically chosen to present the resolution in the NYS Assembly because the Lahore Resolution, also known as the Objectives Resolution and the Pakistan Resolution, was presented on March 23, 1940. Now, with the approval of the resolution to make New York a sister state of Sindh and Punjab, cooperation between the American state and the two Pakistani provinces will increase in the fields of trade, health and education.

In this connection, Ramos had visited Pakistan in November 2023, and met the then senator Ishaq Dar, caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, caretaker health minister Dr Nadeem Jan, caretaker commerce minister Gohar Ejaz, caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman and Senator Mushahid Hussain.

Ramos had also addressed the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Moreover, he had delivered a lecture to students at the Institute of Business Administration and met with the students of the Sindh Madressatul Islam University.

During the same visit, the caretaker governments of Sindh and Punjab, while appreciating the visit of Ramos, had expressed their willingness that after the resolution is passed in the NYS Assembly, similar resolutions would be passed in the assemblies of the two provinces.

I had put the suggestion of making New York a sister state of Sindh and Punjab before Dr Ijaz Ahmad, the NY-based head of the American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee, the leading organisation of Pakistanis in America, and Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori last year in April when he was on a personal visit to the US.

Dr Ijaz Ahmad had arranged an urgent meeting between Tessori and Ramos, following which the Sindh governor and the NYS assembly deputy speaker had vowed during a press conference to make New York and Sindh sister states.

Later, thanks to Dr Ahmad, I had arranged a Zoom call between Ramos and Dar, in which consensus was reached to make medical insurance for American Pakistanis possible in Pakistan and to make New York a sister state of Punjab.

Now, on March 20, the NYS Assembly is likely to approve the resolution to make the two provinces of Pakistan sister states of New York, after which Ramos would visit Pakistan for a second time in April.

The purpose of his visit would be to ensure that similar resolutions are passed in the assemblies of Sindh and Punjab so that this process can be officially started and the people can start benefitting from it.