Pakistani High Commissioner in United Kingdom calls on Secretary General Commonwealth

London, November 20, 2014 (PPI-OT): H.E. Syed Ibne Abbas, High Commissioner for Pakistan to the UK made a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General Commonwealth Organization at the Commonwealth Secretariat London on 18 November 2014.

Issues of mutual interest were discussed in the meeting. The High Commissioner assured the Secretary General of Pakistan’s desire to enhance Pakistan’s already strong and constructive engagement with the Commonwealth. He commended the initiative of Commonwealth’s Young Professionals Programme (YPP), and stated that Pakistan would be actively involved in that Programme. The High Commissioner also underlined the need for increase in number of Commonwealth Scholarships for the Pakistani students.

The Secretary General informed the High Commissioner that on the pattern of Caribbean and African Parliamentary Forums, formation an Asian Parliamentary Forum was being envisaged to be firmed up at the meeting scheduled in May 2015 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner conveyed to the Secretary General Pakistan’s desire to be part of the Asian Parliamentary Forum. The High Commissioner further added that Pakistan would like to benefit from the expertise of Commonwealth Organization in the fields of local government and education.

The two sides agreed to work together towards upholding and promoting core values of the Commonwealth. Pakistan is one of the eight founding members of the Organization and contributes an amount of over £500,000 per annum towards its budget.

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