Pakistani-Americans Scale New Heights, Warmly Commended by Ambassador Khan
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington: In a flurry of activities before the end of 2023, Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, met with entrepreneurs, professionals and physicians of Pakistani descent in the Washington, DC area.
“Pakistani-American entrepreneurs and professionals have scaled new heights of successes in the United States and their reputations have traveled across the United States, the continents and to Pakistan,” the ambassador told a diverse group of Pakistani Americans in the DMV area who have excelled in various fields. “You have been making direct and indirect contributions to Pak-US relations in different roles and you have been contributing directly to Pakistan’s economic development.”
The individuals present included senior officials and executives from KabaFusion, Delloite, the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America (OPEN), The Citizen Foundation, Sirhandi Companies, TRG Group, Novacloud, Facebook and other tech, finance, banking and service companies.
Ambassador Khan offered special recognition to Dr Sohail Masood CEO of KabaFusion, recipient of the 2023 National Award of Entrepreneur of the Year, and Ms Ambreen Mirza, president and CEO of OPEN Global, for their outstanding accomplishments.
“Your success is a common denominator which makes us proud here in the United States and Pakistan,” he said.
Zaina Bankwalla, chair of the OPEN Washington, DC chapter, also spoke on the occasion and invited Pakistani-American entrepreneurs and professionals to reap the benefits of the organization by becoming part of the OPEN fraternity.
On December 3, Ambassador Khan spoke at the 10th Annual Banquet of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA-PUN) which represents the Pakistani doctors’ community of Eastern Pennsylvania, Upper Delaware and South New Jersey,
“You are successful people because you had faith in yourself,” he told the large gathering. “If you can make it, Pakistan will make it, and I have no doubt about it. We have problems back home, but they will be a blip in our long history. We will negotiate a transition. We have the wherewithal to do that.”
While Pakistan had lagged behind in some areas, the country had also progressed immensely in many walks of life, he pointed out. “Our human capital is increasing.”
Highlighting the successes of the Pakistani diaspora in the United States, Ambassador Khan noted that this was not the time for the Pakistani community to be polarized but was a moment to consolidate gains and be part of the US mainstream.
“You should not be on the fringes,” he said. “You should be in the mainstream because you have the requisite competencies to do that.”
He recognized Tarik Khan, a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, for recently introducing a successful resolution to declare Eid-ul-Fitr as an official holiday in Pennsylvania.
The ambassador thanked APPNA, Dr Harun Durrani and other leaders for their support during the devastating floods last year. He also expressed his appreciation to Dr Imran Amir, Dr Farhan Tahir, Dr Junaid Chaudhry and Dr Shehla Siddiqui for inviting him to the occasion and providing him the opportunity to address the doctors’ community of Pennsylvania.
Despite his busy schedule during the first week of December, the ambassador made time to brief Congressman William R (Bill) Keating (D-MA) and Rep Brad Schneider (D-IL) at their Capitol Hill offices on the phased repatriation of undocumented foreigners from Pakistan. The situation in the Middle East and the upward trajectory of Pak-US relations was also discussed with a shared commitment to continue working together for strengthening Pak-US bilateral ties.
Lastly, the ambassador and his staff celebrated the upcoming Christmas holidays with a festive gathering at the embassy with members of the Washington, DC-area Pakistani Christian community and other faiths. The event was attended by religious leaders of all faiths including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Hindus and showcased Pakistan’s efforts to promote interfaith harmony and respect for other religions.
“The spirit of interfaith harmony and religious tolerance permeates Pakistan as they are creating a tolerant society,” Ambassador Khan said. “Christians are an essential and integral part of Pakistan’s polity and state and their influence and impact over years has increased exponentially.”
Recounting important contributions being made by the Christian community in Pakistan, the ambassador highlighted the significant presence of the community members in the mainstream of national life including the judiciary, civil service, armed services, parliament, education and other professional fields. “We owe a lot to the Christian community,” he added. “We are a family today and we would continue to maintain this relationship, this connectivity.”
Ambassador Khan also recalled that Christian families were invited to the presidency years ago during his tenure as the 27th president of Azad Kashmir.
The ambassador pointed out that the occasion of Christmas coincides with the birth of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founder, adding to the significance of the special day.
Pastor Michael Trivett; Dr Joe Knight from the Church of the Nazarene Michigan; Mr Rizwan Jaka, chair of the board of ADAMS and Compassionate Healthcare Network Clinic (ACHN); Ms Aisha Khan, Ms Srilekha Reddy, Dr Surinder P Singh and Akbar Khawaja also spoke and highlighted the significance of the event. They expressed their appreciation for the embassy’s open-door policy and the ambassador’s efforts to unite people of all religions under one roof.
Ambassador Khan specifically acknowledged the efforts of Mr Ilyas Masih for being a “connector” of people of faiths and Masih’s efforts to facilitate the visits of Americans and people of various religions to Pakistan, enabling them to see and experience the real Pakistan and remove any possible misperceptions.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
