Salahuddin Haider
CANADIAN High
Commissioner to
Pakistan Ms Wendy Gilmour unambiguously made it clear Monday that Simla Agreement signed by late Mrs Gandhi and ZA Bhutto in 1972, formed the basis of Indo-Pak dialogue, thus backing international viewpoint that tension between two nuclear neighbours must come to an end.
As guest speaker of the English Speaking Union, Pakistan (EUSP) here, the lady envoy who had traveled all the way from Islamabad to Karachi, said the two countries must engage themselves in dialogue in accordance with the Security Council resolutions (on Kashmir).
Her statement is entirely in keeping with the worldwide view that Kashmir was a dispute pending solution before United Nations, and has now been reaffirmed by its Security Council session last week at New York. MS Gilmour is not only attractive and charming, but displayed tremendous clarity in her thought on issues ranging from Canada-Pakistan bilateral relationship, her government’s efforts to maintain exemplary peace and tranquility in multi-racial, multi-ethnic society, which indeed serves a glaring example for others to emulate.
About trade she said it was 2.2. billion dollars annually, but had tremendous potential, and demanded exploring new avenues to enhance it through bilateral exchanges of trade delegations, persistent enquiries, and unending dialogue. About the visa regime, she said it was entirely in accordance with the rules and regulations, and from next year, Canadian universities, and academic institutions must see increased interest of Pakistani students aspiring for quality education in Canadian institutions. Visa regime is being rehashed now, and will soon be executed.
Emphasizing the importance of people to people contact, she said over 400,000 Pakistanis are settled in Canada, living in perfect harmony and tension-free atmosphere, and another about 40 to 50,000 Canadian nationals are in Pakistan or elsewhere. That showed clarity of thought and willingness of his government to accommodate maximum number of people, keen to contribute to Canadian economy and progress. Yet another programme her government was about to launch was for women emancipation, and empowering them to play greater role in development of Pakistani society.
It was helping Pakistan in various fields, including education which is essential for uplift of the society. Pakistan, like Canada, also played important peace keeping role in conflict zones. She was in Bosnia, Kosovo, and as part of a team in Knadhar in Afghanistan Earlier the President of the EUSP Aziz Memon paid her tributes, recalling her role in different fields as diplomats.
