UK-Pakistan ties to continue in same cordial spirit: envoy

Karachi
There will be no significant changes in Pakistan and United Kingdom’s ties following the elections in the UK. Both governments know each other pretty well and the relationship is very close.
This assurance was extended by the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Pakistan, Philip Barton, while addressing intellectuals, the media, and members of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) at the institute on Thursday evening.
He said that the relationship between the two countries was so strong that they could discuss issues without a wrangle. Barton added that the one million people of Pakistani origin in the UK were a binding factor between the two countries and highlighted their contribution to the British economy.
He said Karachi being the commercial, economic, and industrial nerve centre of Pakistan, the UK could have a very fruitful relationship of investment in Pakistan.
When a questioner pointed out to him that the UK was now not a manufacturing economy but a service one and as such asked as to what shape the investment would take in this case, he rebutted the statement and said, “It is true that Britain did go through a phase when all manufacturing was virtually stalled but, happily, that’s all over now and, today, we are the world’s fifth largest manufacturing economy.”
He said British consumer products manufacturers already had so many retail outlets in Pakistan, like Next, Debenhams, and others. Barton said the UK had been instrumental in getting Pakistan access to European markets and the GSP-plus status which upped Pakistan’s trade earnings by a billion dollars last year.
However, what was of concern to the UK was the human rights situation and the international labour standards that went with the GSP-plus status that Pakistan was under obligation to abide by. He expressed concern over the state of human rights in Pakistan.
Barton said the UK, and for that matter the EU, were deadly against capital punishment, not just in Pakistan, but the world over as it was a total miscarriage of justice. “What,” he said, “would it be like if after the hanging it turned out that the accused was innocent and had been wrongly implicated?”
He highlighted the UK’s contribution in the field of education to Pakistan and said that his country had facilitated the admission of six million underprivileged children to low-cost schools in Sindh.
As for the highly complex India-Pakistan ties, he said that India and Pakistan must resolve their outstanding differences in a spirit of cordiality to stave off security dangers stalking the region.
Talking about the post-election scenario in the UK, he said that, as promised, Scotland would be getting due devolution, especially in the realms of taxation, education, and law. Scotland, he said, would have greater say in the running of its own affairs.
As for the ties with the European countries, the new UK government planned to hold a referendum on the issue in 2017. He said that the one of the points of contention was the immigration issue.
While the EU rules called for unfettered immigration among member countries, the UK, he said could hardly afford that because immigrants from other European countries came and grabbed jobs which was creating unemployment among the local population.
While the UK, he said, was not totally against intra-Europe immigration, he said there must be checks and balances to draw the line somewhere so that it would not tell on the countries’ economic situation.
Secondly, he said, there must be more competitive economic reform. London, he said, was the venue of 80 percent of the economic transactions in Europe and as such it must be given a greater say.