15th October 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in writing about an important issue that affects us all. This year’s topic is water. This is a crucial matter for poor Pakistan. Tragically, the country has too much water right now as it struggles to recover from unprecedented and devastating floods. […]
17th August 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
The devastating floods across Pakistan over the last few weeks are completely heart-breaking. Our sympathies and prayers go out to the families of those who have died, the families who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and the millions and millions of Pakistanis across the country whose lives have been shaken by this awful disaster. […]
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28th June 2010
The British Business Group in Pune invited me to their AGM (Annual General Meeting) in mid June. Pune is Maharashtra State’s second largest city and I have heard estimates of a population between four to six million. The national census this year should give the figure. Pune is the major centre for the automotive sector […]
Read more on Pumps, turbines & degrees – from Pune to Warwick & Glasgow | Reply
27th May 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
Whatever else Pakistanis may think about India, the evidence of economic growth there is hard to deny. Last week I visted Gurgaon, the new city outside New Delhi. It is mushrooming. Twelve years ago, when I last took a look, it practically wasn’t there. Now it has all the shopping malls, office blocks and building […]
18th May 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
For British citizens the outcome of last week’s General Election has been pretty remarkable. For the first time since the Second World War we have a coalition government. And we have the prospect of some quite substantial constitutional change: legislation to give Parliament a fixed term of five years, a referendum on whether to move […]
7th May 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s National Assembly voted 292 to 0 to amend the country’s Constitution, passing more power from the President to the Prime Minister and from the centre to the provincial governments. The Senate followed suit and the amendment has been signed into law. The change restores the Constitution to something closer to the […]
19th April 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
Many Pakistanis have never heard of the European Union. Still fewer know what it is. But when Prime Minister Gilani met 16 of the European Union’s Ambassadors in Peshawar recently, it was natural for him to do so. The European Union is Pakistan’s largest trading partner (two-way trade was worth €7.5 billion in 2008, approximately […]
26th March 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
In response to an earlier blog of mine someone asked whether I really meant my description of Pakistan as a proud country or whether I was just being polite. I was not just being polite. I meant proud. And proud in ways that diplomats like me need to understand and remember. The celebration of Pakistan […]