Kudos to Mr. Adam M Tugio, the ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to be the first one to come forward and organise a national day reception after more than two years of hibernation on national day receptions by diplomatic community of Islamabad. It was the 76th anniversary of the independence day of Indonesia and 54th ASEAN Day celebrations for a select few keeping the NCOC guidelines under consideration. The tables were set at the ambassador residence’s manicured garden for guest falling under 100 in number and seating placed at an arm’s length from one another.
Indonesia and Pakistan have lot of similarities. They were born within a year’s difference of each other. Indonesia is one year older than Pakistan and Pakistan follows the footsteps as the big brother is world’s biggest Muslim populated country and Pakistan, the second biggest. Indonesia is home to world’s 17000 islands and over 1300 ethnic communities speak more than 700 dialects. Both countries had issues of terrorism and long spans of militarily rules in the past.
Coming back to the national day event, the chief guest Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Food and Security was accompanied by his better half Syeda Abdia Hussian, an astute politician from Jhang in her own right.
The power couple have played musical chairs all through their political career as either one of the two have turn by turn occupied a chair in the ruling cabinets with important ministerial portfolio in various governments, be it Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or even interim government of Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, one of the two Syeds were at the helm of affairs. This is not all that the eyes meet. There were times when both were out of parliament but again as luck would have it, Syed Abida Hussain got the honour of being first woman ambassador to the United States, whereas, in the last spell of PPP government, her younger daughter Syeda Sughra Imam was elected as a senator on reserved seat for women. Begum Sahiba as she is often addressed, is also author of a best seller, Power Failure: Political Odyssey of a Pakistani Women.
Indonesian Ambassador Adam M Tugio whose is hardly a year old in Pakistan highlighted the friendship bond between Pakistan and Indonesia. He also walked the guests through the number of initiatives the two brotherly countries are undertaking to further strengthen the bilateral relations and the role both can play in Afghanistan. We have been part of colonial rule.
Syed Fakhar Imam is a man of few words and those who know him well and have followed the political career of the former National Assembly Speaker will vouch for that. Hailing from Khanewal, his soft demeanor makes the job of his opponents to hurl jabs on this septuagenarian even more difficult. Taking over the podium after being invited by the ambassador, the minister started his speech on the lighter note by saying that Covid-19 has restricted moments and social calls have been next to none. Now that the Indonesian ambassador has taken the first step, we expect engagements with the diplomatic community to resume to normal gradually.
Senator Mushahid Hussain also spoke on the occasion reminiscing his childhood days when his father was posted in Pakistan Embassy in Indonesia as Military Attaché and received the highest military award from the then President of Indonesia. The senator informed that he spent his schools days in Jakarta and during his last visit to Jakarta was delighted to visit the same school.
Apart from high definition videos running on projectors for the audience, the host had also organised a Karatay demonstration. It was quite amusing. A book launched by the Indonesian embassy, highlighting the cultural similarities and infusion of cuisine between the Pakistan and Indonesia was also unveiled and presented to the guest in attendance.
It was time to answer the hunger pangs of the guests and servers of Serena Hotel Islamabad clad in starched crisp uniforms appeared from nowhere carrying Indonesian meat bowl soup. It was plain beef broth with meat balls swimming along with caramelised onions and other green herbs. The soup was no doubt enlightening especially with the support coming from the bread baskets.
Grilled salmon fillet with spring onions alongside lemon butter grilled veggies and artistically encircled ASEAN style fried noodles gave the ASEAN guest a nostalgic touch.
The second course served was chicken saty with peanuts sauce, chicken handi, beef afghani pulao and for sweet tooth, opera cake and kheer with pistachio nuts.