Lord Ahmad held meetings with the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood
Qureshi, Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, the
Minister of State for the Interior Shehryar Afridi and Senator
Sherry Rehman. The Minister of State also took part in
wreath-laying ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in
Rawalpindi. He met with a range of civil society and human rights
champions at a reception held at the British High Commission.
He also took part in a panel discussion held at the Fatimah
Jinnah Women University on British Council’s Active Citizens
Programme. The British Council is working with the Higher
Education Commission across all universities and degree awarding
institutions in Pakistan to help young students take action in
their local communities, and at a regional and national level.
This programme will provide mandatory training on inclusion and
tolerance to every undergraduate in Pakistan.
Lord Ahmad also welcomed back 2017-18 Chevening and Commonwealth
scholars at a reception at the British High Commissioner’s
residence in Islamabad. Lord Tariq Ahmad and British High
Commissioner Thomas Drew met with a number of the recently
returned scholars on the completion of their fully-funded
Chevening one year masters’ degree and Commonwealth Masters and
PhD programmes in the UK.
Congratulating the Chevening and Commonwealth Scholars, Lord
Tariq Ahmad said:
I am delighted to be back in Pakistan to see and hear about the
strength of the UK-Pakistan partnership. Meeting with
ministers, students and alumni, I heard about the depth of our
connections, the impact of the UK support and the progress
Pakistan is making to support education, development and
dialogue.
I was also pleased to welcome back to Chevening and
Commonwealth scholars back to Pakistan, and congratulate them
on completing their masters’ degrees and PhD programmes in the
UK. Pakistan remains one of the top priority countries for the
Commonwealth and for Chevening, and these scholars are a
testament to the education links between the UK and Pakistan.
