24th February 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
Yesterday Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar attended the international conference on Somalia in London hosted by British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron. Her presence was valuable and built on the good collaboration that Britain and Pakistan have enjoyed over the narrower question of Somali piracy. We’ve both suffered from these pirates. So our two navies have collaborated on […]
23rd February 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
I began my career as a journalist on Egypt’s Al-Ahram Weekly newspaper, spending two years living on a house-boat in the heart of Cairo and reporting on the Middle East. In 2002 I joined the UK civil service. Before the Foreign Office, I was a Senior Policy Advisor in the Cabinet Office, covering Russia, Georgia […]
1st February 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
Great cricket! Pakistan’s that is. Some of Pakistan’s media described Pakistan’s crushing win over England in the second Test in Dubai as a miracle. To a non-cricketer like me, it didn’t look like a miracle. It looked like a very professional demolition job by some fine spin bowlers. Of course I would have liked England […]
30th January 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
Variety is one of the things I love about my job. It comes from the huge range of issues, people and types of engagement that connect the UK to Pakistan. We have just launched a multi-month communications campaign to celebrate that variety. It is called Celebrating Connections and it is in the media, on our […]
19th January 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
Guest blogger, Susan Hyland, joins Adam Thomson’s blog to share a few impressions from her first weeks as Political Counsellor at the British High Commission in Pakistan. Six weeks ago, one of my colleagues met me at the airport when I arrived in Islamabad for the first time. As I write this, I am again […]
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14th December 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
Young Pakistanis never fail to inspire me. I have the privilege of a couple of weeks ago of helping to select one graduate to go on a scholarship to one of Britain’s leading Universities. How interesting and how tough it was! Nearly two hundred application forms had to be sifted, giving a wonderful glimpse into […]
12th August 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
Over the four nights this week people across the world have seen images of riots, criminality and looting taking place in the UK. These images have been shocking and sickening for anyone like me who cares about the UK’s reputation. And no less shocking has been the loss of life this week of three young […]
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28th June 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
On Thursday, I visited the Police Lines headquarters in Islamabad. I was accompanying the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who wanted to pay his respects to the fallen martyrs of the Pakistani police service and to publicly recognise their sacrifices in serving Pakistan and its citizens. Mr Hague laid a wreath at the police monument […]
29th March 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
The UK is a long standing partner and ally of Pakistan and both our nations have a lot to gain from improving trade between our two countries. In this video blog, Adam Thomson talks about attending the “Doing Business with Pakistan” conference in London in February 2011, and the benefits of strengthening UK-Pakistan trade and […]
14th March 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
Today is Commonwealth Day and it’s about women. The Commonwealth is an increasingly important family of nations who share a common history and have shared interests looking to the future. Last week, it was the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. So this year Commonwealth Day is rightly celebrating the role of women as agents […]