Islamabad, July 29; British High Commissioner,
Mr. Adam Thomson, who joined Youth Parliament here today
on the first regular session after the tragedy of the
death of 6 Members of Youth Parliament, offered his
condolences and observed a minute of silence on the sad
and tragic death of MYPs.
“UK will never turn its back on Pakistan,” said Mr.
Thomson while addressing the Youth Parliament on the topic
of UK’s Foreign Policy towards Pakistan. Pakistan has lost
more soldiers in the fight against militancy than Britain
has lost in many wars and the sacrifices Pakistani
citizens are huge, he said.
Mr. Thomson, who discussed in detail the support UK has
committed to provide to Pakistan, despite cuts in every
government department back home, said that education,
population and democracy are three key areas that youth of
Pakistan may like to focus on. The societal discourse on
these three key areas needs to be accelerated. UK’s policy
focus in Pakistan has to be focused towards Youth as
Pakistan is a very young country in terms of demographics.
This is both a unique opportunity and a challenge for
Pakistan as well. Democracy in Pakistan will succeed when
a democratic elected government precedes another, he said.
Mr. Thomson said that UK’s policy towards Pakistan focuses
on trade, youth, education, and skills-building.
Answering a question about what is the role UK is playing
in resolving Kashmir and the water disputes, Mr. Thomson
said that Britain wishes to see friendly relations between
Pakistan and India but the issues between the two nations
need to be resolved between the two. He believed that
while Pakistanis look for ways to resolve water issues,
water conservation should also be one of the major
strategies adopted.
Mr. Thomson was presented with a Youth Parliament memento
by the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister of
Defence and Foreign Affairs.
The Youth Parliament session will re-convene tomorrow,
July 30, at 09:30 am while Youth Parliament will be
addressed by Mr. Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri, former Foreign
Minister of Pakistan at 02:30 pm while the Youth
Parliament session will meet tomorrow at 09:30 am. |