Ambassador Tirmizi addresses ceremony of Russia East Festival in Kazan

KAZAN, Nov 09 (APP): Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, Ambassador of Pakistan to the Russian Federation, attended as guest of honour and addressed the opening ceremony of the International Festival of National Cultures “Russia-East” (Eastern Bazaar) in Kazan.

In his remarks, the ambassador expressed warm thanks to the Republic of Tatarstan and the organisers, the Rashit Vagapov Tatar Cultural Foundation and especially to its Director, Mr. Rifat Fattakhov, for the kind invitation and genuine hospitality.

He noted that the Festival, now in its fifth year and held under the patronage of the Russian Commission for UNESCO, has become a valued meeting place where participants from around twenty Russian regions and some forty countries share their crafts, cuisine, music and traditions.

Ambassador Tirmizi observed that Pakistan, a nation of 260 million people lying at the crossroads of South, Central and West Asia, is not only a geographical link but also a cultural one — connecting different faiths, languages, music and cuisines. He said Pakistan feels at home in Kazan, where a mosque and a cathedral stand side by side in the Kremlin, and that, like the people of Tatarstan, Pakistanis believe different cultures can live together and enrich one another.

The ambassador expressed the hope that Pakistan’s presence at the Festival would open new avenues of cultural understanding and bring the peoples of Pakistan and Russia closer together in friendship and mutual respect.