ISLAMABAD - October 23rd marks a historic day in 1956 when millions of Hungarians stood up against the brutal soviet occupation in pursuance of their independence. Hungary will always remember and will pay tribute to the heroes of the revolution who led their life down in Hungary’s struggle for freedom. The ambassador of Hungary István Szabo hosted a colourful reception to mark the 62nd anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and freedom fight of his country at a local hotel in Islamabad. Federal Minister for Water Resources, Muhammad Faisal Vawda was the chief guest while the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Khusroo Bakhtiar was the guest of honour.  People from various walks of life including ambassadors, diplomats, businessmen and civilians attended the event.

The participants exchanged views on various national and international issues but the main topic of discussion was the killing of Saudi Arabian Journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. It is a very tragic incident which would definitely have a negative impact on relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the two most important countries of the Muslim world. Regional and global development binds the fate of these two countries together. The development in one country inevitably impacts the other as well. Thus, these two countries have no other choice but to hold onto one another strategically and improve their relationships. Currently Pakistan and Turkey both are facing economic turmoil and both countries should avail the opportunity to improve their relations with Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Saudi Arabia on October 23 to participate in the two-day “Future Investment Initiative (FII),” conference. His participation in the conference is aimed at projecting Pakistan’s economic and investment potential and his vision of the country for the next five years. It would also open a window of opportunity for leading businesspersons, and representatives of hi-tech industry and major media outlets to discuss more possibilities of economic cooperation at one platform. Yesterday I had the honour to meet Prime Minister Imran khan under the leadership of Iftikhar Ali Malik, the Group Leader of FPCCI where he emphasized the need to construct dams in Pakistan with the help of the private sector.

On a question about the future of SAARC one of the SAARC diplomats said that elections in Pakistan have already been held and elections in Afghanistan are just taking place, Bangladesh will probably hold elections after two months and India will do so next year.  He hoped that the upcoming election results in different member countries of South Asia will help in cooperation and work towards finding solutions to their common problems. The most popular social media figure and Minister, Muhammad Faisal Vawda graced the occasion as a chief guest. He has expertise of working as the Head of Media Affairs, Central Media Centre Karachi, Pakistan for PTI. Faisal Vawda is the youngest advisor on the advisory boards of various international groups. He is energetic, dynamic and a visionary man. He sociably interacted with participants throughout the event. Khusroo Bakhtiar is also very friendly.  He is a man of intellect and vision, through his expertise in various sectors he would run the planning ministry in a better manner but his first test would be to carry forward the CPEC Project   in the same pace and in the same direction, otherwise the Pakistani nation would lose the last chance of their struggle to survive and to bring peace and prosperity in the region.

The Hungarian ambassador and embassy staff had made a record of celebrating the event in a different and unique way to keep participants smiling, talking about it for long and provided an opportunity to the people to learn and know more about the  Hungarian culture. This time the function was more interesting as it featured the “HunGastro Festival” in cooperation with Hungarian Gastronomic National Association (HGNA), MOL and Serena Hotel. Hungary is believed to be a heaven for tourists. Four Hungarian chefs (Zoltán Barabás, Attila Tímár, Mária Rózsa and Gerg? Balázs specially came all the way from Budapest to Islamabad, to promote Hungarian Food art. Hungarian cuisine has Austrian, Slavic and Turkish influences but the food which was served on the occasion was very similar to Pakistani cuisine. Though the two countries are set apart by thousands of miles but the taste of the food is another aspect to bring the two countries closer. István SZABÓ is the most active ambassador in the diplomatic community of Islamabad. He joined the diplomatic force as an ambassador to Pakistan in 2012.

Since then he has promoted bilateral relations between both countries through photo exhibitions, musical nights, seminars and festivals. István Szabo and his wife are putting tremendous efforts in promoting people to people contact between the two countries. He made a speech in which he recalled the heroes who scarified their life for freedom in 1956 revolution and freedom fight. He said Hungarians will always remember those who stood with them in their fight for freedom as Pakistan was among those countries that co-sponsored the UN Resolution condemning the Soviet military invasion and the communist reprisal.  He also enlightened the audience about Pakistan and Hungary’s bilateral relations. He further said that during the past few years, our cooperation has intensified and improved in a number of fields including trade, culture, education, water management, agriculture, energy, technology transfer and defence.  He further added that since 2015, his country has offered 200 government scholarships every year for Pakistani students in Hungarian higher education institutions free of charge.

In the field of energy he emphasized that Hungary’s largest company MOL has been operating in Pakistan since the last 20 years. MOL Pakistan employs more than 400 Pakistani citizens and also offers sponsorship for a lot of events organized by the Embassy. He highlighted the ongoing cultural project between Hungary and Pakistan under which paintings of August Schaefft, a Hungarian born artist are being restored. He then elaborated the secrets of Hungarian cuisine, the culinary art festival called “HunGastro Festival”.  He appreciated the four chefs and said that they are the masters of their profession and winners of international prizes. Muhammad Faisal Vawda thanked and congratulated everyone on behalf of the people and Government of Pakistan on this auspicious occasion. He said Pak-Hungary relations in various sectors are satisfactory but there is a need to further enhance this cooperation in the coming future.

–The writer is a freelance contributor.