I fell in love with Pakistan at Staff College Quetta, says UK army general

LONDON: Major General (Retd) Seumas Kerr CBE has said he fell in love with Pakistan and it’s people when he attended the Pakistan Staff College in Quetta for a year.

Major General (Retd) Seumas Kerr was speaking to Geo News in an exclusive interview after taking over as Chairman of the Pakistan Society. Seumas Kerr served as a Major General in the British Army and retired after 35 years. He said he spent time in Pakistan with his family, where he developed a love and respect for the country and has remained in touch with Pakistanis ever since.

Seumas Kerr shared: “My godfather went to the Quetta Staff College in 1936. I met Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery as a young boy and he also went to the Staff College Quetta. We ended up discussing Pakistan. I think that fired something in my imagination and I wanted to go. When I was a young major, the top 10 percent would get a choice to choose a country to go to and I put Pakistan as my first choice. and was delighted to be selected to go there. It was just a magical year. From the moment we arrived we were made to feel welcome. The security constraints were not there at the time as they are now so we travelled all over Pakistan including Lahore, Karakoram Highway, Hunza, Abbottabad, Karachi, Quetta and the Afghan Border. It’s such a beautiful country and we were made to feel welcome everywhere.”

The retired general said that the most memorable part of Pakistan remains attached to his time in Quetta. “We made great friendships in Quetta. I played a lot of squash, ran a lot, and played a lot of tennis