Excellencies,
Ambassador Manuel Duran,
Federal Ministers,
Members of Parliament,
Foreign Secretary,
Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am pleased to host today’s celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Pakistan-Spain diplomatic relations.
This venue for tonight’s celebration, the Pakistan Monument, is indeed befitting not only for its presence as an iconic landmark of Pakistan but also because both Pakistan and Spain share a common passion for beautiful art and architecture.
It was Pakistan’s seminal poet, the great Muhammad Iqbal who in 1933 visited Spain and went to see the Mosque of Cordoba. Iqbal was so moved by the magnificence and solemnity of the Mosque, he penned his now immortal poem in homage, called Masjid-i-Qartaba (The Mosque of Cordoba). Iqbal saw the Mosque as a cultural landmark of Islam.
In fact, if you glance towards these magnificent petals above me, you will see a portrait of Allama Iqbal etched into the stone.
Ladies & Gentleman, it is the people of Pakistan and the people of Spain who continue to strengthen the bonds between our two great nations. There are currently over 125’000 Pakistani’s living in Spain. In fact, the first Pakistani’s to arrive in Spain were known as los pioneros or The Pioneers.
In this same pioneering spirit, I am proud to share that it was the Pakistani diaspora in Spain from the taxi driving community who rose to the occasion during the peak of the COVID 19 pandemic, offering free car rides any time of day and night to all types of health care workers. For this I was delighted to honour a number of individuals from the community in Spain on my annual FM Honours List.
In terms of shared cultural heritage, I was recently reading about the commonality of roots between Spanish flamenco and Sufi music, a hallmark of Pakistan’s identity. I believe it was in the 1930s that a student from Pakistan named Aziz Balouch travelled to Spain, and as soon as he heard flamenco he recognized it as almost identical to the Sufi music that he played and sang at home. Let us reflect on this tonight as we experience the rhythm and joy of a flamenco music performance.
Literary speaking, some of Pakistan’s most compelling writers such as Bapsi Sidwa and Kamila Shamsie have been translated into Spanish owing to an interest in their work among Spanish readers.
Ladies & Gentleman,
Tonight, these joint celebrations under my Public Diplomacy Initiative along with the Embassy of Spain in Islamabad, celebrates our shared past and also provides an opportunity to look at the journey ahead of us.
Since the establishment of our diplomatic relations 70 years ago, our relations have grown with a number of high level exchanges having taken place.
Most recently, I was pleased to welcome Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares to Islamabad which has set momentum to further deepen our bilateral relations.
Spain has always supported Pakistan bilaterally as well in the European Union. It is one the largest trading partners of Pakistan. Many Spanish companies are doing business in Pakistan, particularly in renewable energy sector and helping Pakistan in its green transition.
Our Government’s shift of focus from geo-politics to geo-economics, improved security environment, and enhanced ranking of Pakistan in the Ease of Doing Business Index, would attract more investment, especially from Spain.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank you all for joining us this evening and hope you all had a chance to view the wonderful photography exhibit as you walked-in. Please join me ahead as I look forward to an evening of cultural and culinary delight with artists who have travelled all the way from Spain to Islamabad to perform; I also welcome you to experience the unique sound of Pakistan’s music maestros, “Khumaariyan”, here from Khyber Pukhtunkhwa tonight. I would specifically also like to thank our event partner Jamshed Safdar, CEO of ULS-UPS Pakistan for supporting us in celebrating this important milestone.
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