ISLAMABAD - German Ambassador Ina Lepel hosted a grand reception to mark the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Germany here at her residence in Diplomatic Enclave.
Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi was the chief guest. President Azad Jammu & Kashmir Sardar Yaqoob Khan, Punjab Provincial Ministers Zakia Shahnawaz and Afzal Sindhu, German Member Parliament Omid Noripor were a few shining stars among the galaxy of participants from different walks of life.
Omid Noripour specially came from Berlin to attend this reception. He is a dynamic young politician from Green Party. He left Iran 25 years ago when he was just 13.
Federal Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan attended the reception but he left the scene quietly at the arrival of the chief guest of the reception.
Ambassador Lepel is hard working diplomat and this is her second tenure in Pakistan. She left Islamabad six years ago as deputy head of the mission of the German embassy. She is very fluent in Urdu with a command in Pakistani culture, civilization, politics and traditions.
French, Austrian and German ambassadors, Martine Dorance, Brigita Blaha and Ina Lepel respectively, are close friends and they used to join oen another at the diplomatic receptions. All the three ambassadors have recently joined their position in Pakistan.
In his speech, Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi said Pakistan and Germany enjoy close and cordial relations, marked by friendship, mutual trust, cooperation and confidence. Both of the countries have converging views on various regional and international issues; be they political, economic or the global challenges of extremism and terrorism. He further elaborated that Germany is Pakistan’s largest trading partner in the Europe. “However, we believe that the volume of Pakistan-Germany trade is not commensurate with the traditional friendly ties that exist between our two countries. German investors have been present in this region since even before the creation of Pakistan. We see a vast untapped potential of cooperation in energy, infrastructure development, automotive industry, agriculture and agro-based industry, mining and oil and gas exploration.” he added.
“We are particularly glad to note the strong contacts between the parliaments of the two countries which serve as a strong pillar of the bilateral relations and promote people-to-people contacts. Happily, as we speak we have a German parliamentary delegation in town,” he further said. He said it is heartening to see that Germany is fast becoming a destination for Pakistani students and more than 3,000 Pakistani students are pursuing their higher education in German universities. An over 100,000 strong Pakistani community in Germany acts as an infallible human bridge between the two countries that facilitates the cultural and economic relations between Pakistan and Germany, he said.
Ina Lepel said Germans are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the German Reunification. After a period of twenty five years of a united Germany, the country has grown successfully through democracy, freedom, and respect for the dignity and rights of every individual.
But in the globalized world, no country can truly prosper on its own. Germany works for a strong Europe that develops in a spirit of solidarity. This spirit of European solidarity will also be of key importance when it comes to finding good answers to the global challenge of the current refugee crisis.
She further said that she came back to Pakistan only around 3 months ago. But in just that short time span German foreign minister and the parliamentary state secretary of the ministry of economic cooperation and development visited Pakistan. She also pointed out the presence of Omid Noripour, which shows that Pak-German parliament to parliament relations are flourishing as well.
Talking about economic relations she said, “German-Pakistan relations are developing well in all areas: Pakistan’s exports to Germany are on an upward trend and I am very pleased to see the growing interest from young Pakistanis in higher studies in Germany and for learning the German language.”
While talking about the corporation of academia, culture and civilization she said that the bridges should be built between people of different cultures and nations to promote these activities. Such bridges are important in times when intolerance to diversity seems to be growing in many societies. She also quoted Allama Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan who is a great bridge between the two great nations Pakistan and Germany. Allama Iqbal was highly impressed by the German society, philosophy and academia as he studied in German university. The German ambassador also quoted some Iqbal’s poetic verses.
—The writer is a freelance contributor.