Only people-to-people ties help bridge gap in Pak-US bilateral ties: Aizaz Chaudhry

WASHINGTON, March 25 (APP):Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry urged the need of increasing people-to-people ties between Pakistan and the United States that could offset negative variation in ties at the government level.
He cited the example of cooperation between Faisalabad Agricultural University and experts from California University that led to “revolutionary performance” of Pakistan’s agriculture sector in late 50s and 60s.
He made these remarks while addressing the inaugural oath-taking ceremony of the newly-formed Pakistani American Press Association (PAPA) at a restaurant in Virginia.
The ambassador said the government-to-government ties had their ups and downs. Only the people-to-people relations counted, since those were mutually beneficial, rewarding and long lasting.
He said the cause of durable uplift in bilateral ties comes only with willing cooperation and investment in time, skills and capabilities. He said Pakistanis were talented people, who had extraordinary and enviable spirit to excel.
Ambassador Chaudhry said Pakistani Americans could help bridge the gap in Pakistan-US ties, and help strengthen and make vibrant the bilateral relations. He had high hopes in Pakistani Americans, who were highly talented and committed to good of their motherland as well as their new adopted homeland.
The ambassador, on the occasion, announced that a day-long “Convention of Community and Youth” would be organized in Washington DC on April 14 to “ivite ideas”and “onnecting the dots”. Those invited include politicians, officials, scholars, high achievers, experts from various fields and the first and the second generation Pakistani-Americans.
Moreover, he said in variety of fields valuable work was underway, while it was not in common knowledge. Hence, it was vital to bring the experts and men of wisdom and knowledge on a single platform, so as to help connect the dots.
The other speakers included State of Virginia’s Secretary Education Atif Qarni, Dr. Akbar S. Ahmad; Dr. Frank Islam, Republican Party Strategist Sajid Tarar.