Dinner in honour of Asian envoys

DIPLOMATIC ENCLAVE

Islamabad

Additional Secretary, Asia Pacific in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zulfiqar Gardezi and Mrs. Lyla Gardezi hosted a dinner in honour of Asian envoys and those who accepted the invitation included Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam, Brigadier General (r) Dato Haji Mahmud bin Haji Saidin and spouse; Ambassador of Indonesia Dr and Mrs. Iwan Suyudhie Amri; Ambassador of Thailand, Suchart Liengsaengthong and spouse;  Ambassador of Republic of Korea, Nguyen Xuan Luu; Ambassador of Maldives, Ahmed Saleem,; Ambassador of Nepal, Ms. Sewa Lamsal Adhikari; Charge d’Affaires, Myanmar, Aung Thu Soe and spouse.

Other guests included a few retired and serving officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Government officials and Pakistani friends of the host from different walks of life. A gentleman that most Pakistani guests were excited to meet was the constitutional expert; writer and analyst, A.G. Noorani, who was visiting Islamabad in connection with the literary festival. He has a regular column in a daily newspaper and is therefore well known, although he resides in Mumbai. And yes, selfies and photographs were taken!

Guests were greeted warmly on arrival and those who knew about it, in return congratulated the host as he is now ambassador designate to Denmark  - he has previously served in a number f countries - and will assume office in a couple of months time. As the word spread, more good wishes followed though with the opinion that the couple will be missed by their friends in Islamabad.

Though some of the chief guests have been here a while, others are comparatively new and the gathering reminded somewhat of the dinners or lunches hosted by the former ambassador of Argentina, Rodolfo Martin Saravia, who always introduced new envoys to his friends and colleagues at these affairs to make them feel at home after coming to a new place to live!

Dinner with a variety of cuisine was served and guests enjoyed an evening of ‘getting to know you’ interaction, which always proves good for making friends and influencing people while understanding something about their culture.