Asif to meet Cameron during UK visit

ISLAMABAD (APP) President Asif Ali Zardari will visit the United Kingdom from August 3-8 and will meet the British Prime Minister and members of Parliament of Pakistan origin. According to a Foreign Office Spokesman here, the President will be received by Prime Minister David Cameron at Chequers. Sir Michael Barber, Co-Chair Pakistan Education Task Force and Michael Gove, Education Secretary would call on the President. The President will also address members of the Pakistani community as well as interact with the media. Bilateral relations between Pakistan and Britain received a structural upgradation during the Presidents visit to UK on 13-14 May last year. The most significant outcome of the visit was the establishment of a mechanism for holding Pakistan-UK Strategic Dialogue in an institutionalised manner. Seven Britons of Pakistan origin have been elected to the House of Commons in the 2010 general elections, while a Pakistani origin Briton, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has been appointed Minister (without Portfolio) & Chairperson of Conservative Party. Recently, there have been three important visits to Pakistan from Britain, namely, British Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell (June 9-11), Foreign Secretary William Hague (23-25 June) and Baroness Warsi, Minister & Chairperson of UK Conservative Party (17-20 July). UK is among Pakistans largest trading and investment partners in the EU. There are over 100 British companies operating in Pakistan. The volume of trade between the two counties in 2008-2009 was around US $ 1.8 billion. The United Kingdom has one of the largest concentrations of Pakistani diaspora close to one million. The major areas of concentration are Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, London and Glasgow. A vast majority of these are second generation British nationals. The Pakistani community is contributing approximately $38 billion to the UK economy. The Presidents visit will afford a useful opportunity to exchange views on regional and international developments.

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