First impressions of Pakistan.

Where better to start a blog about my encounters with this proud country than the presentation of my credentials to the President, Asif Ali Zardari?

Credentials are an ancient piece of diplomatic ritual that is half absurd and wholly serious. An Ambassador’s (or, in the case of Commonwealth countries, a High Commissioner’s) credentials are the two letters from The Queen that the Ambassador delivers to the Head of State of the country to which he is to be "accredited".  One letter announces the recall of the previous British Ambassador/High Commissioner. The other commends the new one. By receiving these letters, the host Head of State officially accepts and formalises the new Ambassador’s role and the Ambassador can then start work.

The absurd bit is the 17th century trappings that surround the credentials ceremony in many parts of the world. I suspect that the British (and probably the French) are responsible for designing and maintaining much of this. The Queen’s letter to President Zardari describes me as  ‘Our Trusty and Well-beloved Adam McClure Thomson, Companion of Our Most Distinguished Order ot Saint Michael and Saint George’.  And the Pakistani ceremony involves being driven from my house to the presidential helipad in an official limo. From there you go in an open horsedrawn carriage the few hundred yards to the  presidential palace. Once there, in a choreography that we have rehearsed with Pakistan’s larger-than – life Chief of Protocol, I and my wife and senior staff line up, hand over the letters, are photographed for posterity, sit and have ten minutes chat with the President and his senior team, including Salman Bashir, the talented head of Pakistan’s diplomatic service.

In the end, I didn’t do the full version. I was so keen that to get started on my job that the President kindly set the ceremony at just 24 hours notice and we did an abbreviated version. What was lacking in carriage rides, however, was more than made up for by the splendid tribal dresses of the limo driver and of my Defence Attache, Alasdair Loudon, attired in the magnificent full kilt and regalia of an officer of the Black Watch.

Alasdair did me proud. Because there’s a serious side to this credentials thing. The leader of your nation (in my case The Queen) is saying to the leader of another nation that she has chosen you to represent your country to theirs. In a quiet moment I realise that it is me and no one else who shoulders the overall responsibility for upholding and pursuing the United Kingdom’s interests in Pakistan.

So I hand over the letters, and I’m off and running with the job. I still can’t believe how lucky and privileged I am at last to be, officially, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan.  My single objective now is to ensure that I, and my Mission, make a really positive difference to this country. I truly believe that what is good for Pakistan is good for Britain.   I also aim to blog here each week:  about the issues affecting UK and Pakistan, about what the UK’s Mission in Pakistan is doing in support of both our countries.  I look forward to hearing your comments and views on my blog – and I will try to answer as many of your concerns and interests as I can.