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Jilani urges Pakistani-Americans to shun differences
INP
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington hosted the first convention of Pakistani-American community (CPAC-2014) on Saturday.
Pakistani community leaders, businessmen, professionals, heads of various organisations, political activists and academicians from all over the United States participated in the convention.
The convention was hosted by Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani to bring together leading community members from across the US on one platform. It was part of the embassy’s outreach efforts to engage the growing Pakistani-American community and discuss issues of mutual interest. The consuls general of Pakistan in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston were also present in the convention.
In his address, Jilani emphasised that welfare of the Pakistani-American community was the top priority of the government of Pakistan and the “embassy and consulates are dedicated to assisting Pakistanis in every possible way”.
The ambassador urged the community to shun their parochial differences and act as a unified group to effectively leverage their political capital in the US political system. Highlighting the importance of diaspora communities in strengthening bilateral relations, the ambassador said that the community could play a bigger role in countering the negative narrative in Pakistan and the US.
The participants of the convention were given detailed briefings on the economic situation of Pakistan as well as the available trade and investment opportunities. Representatives of USAID and OPIC also highlighted the economic cooperation between Pakistan and the US and facilitative role played by the US government to spur private sector investments in Pakistan.
The participants greatly appreciated the initiative of the embassy in organising the nation-wide convention, which provided an effective platform to both the embassy and the community to deliberate on the issues of mutual concern. They expressed deep interest in the briefings arranged by the embassy.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk