PAKISTAN’S Ambassador Dr. Aman Rashid claimed that there are many comparisons between his country and the Philippines, notwithstanding the geographical distance that separate them.
“We have lots of similarities. Maybe, it’s because we’re both developing countries. We struggled under colonial rule. There are [many affinities, as our peoples] are family-oriented,” Rashid pointed out in an exclusive for the BusinessMirror.
He drew the observations as he had been posted in Paris and Chicago prior. The 61-year-old medical doctor added: “Unfortunately, the Asians—especially [those from the] southeast—are very emotional; they think from ‘here’ [he pressed his right hand to his chest]. And we are ready to kill for honor.”
The envoy explained: “The Hindus respect cows, and [do not allow beef to be eaten]. The whole world [consumes] beef; Christians eat beef, the Hindus are vegetarian, and Muslims are not…”
“So if I go to an Indian restaurant, people ask me: ‘What’s the difference between Pakistani and Indian cuisine?’ The vegetarian [food] of India is Hindu; the nonvegetarian is Muslim. So any cuisine that’s not Indian is Pakistani,” he went on to say.
That dichotomy of culture and religion eventually split India into two countries back in 1947, midwifed by the colonial British. It created independent dominions, one that resulted in the creation of Pakistan.
The partition displaced over 14 million people along religious lines, creating an overwhelming refugee crisis in the newly constituted territories. There was large-scale violence with the loss of lives—either accompanied or preceded by the division—estimated between several hundreds of thousands and 2 million.
According to Wikipedia, “the violent nature of the separation created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to the present.”
Big on beef, rice
OUR interview focused on Philippine-Pakistan affairs and where it is headed. Now that he has been posted in the country, Rashid’s mandate, he said, is “to improve economic relations with the Filipinos and to increase people-to-people interactions through sister-city partnerships.”
The year 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations. Currently, bilateral trade stands at almost $184 million. “A low number,” he admitted, “but still, both sides are eager to engage in commerce” and volunteered that beef is their main export item, “but we’re also big exporters of rice.”
Maybe it is also a good sign, he added, that both sides just had a political consultation. And after almost 15 years, “we have the Joint Economic Commission. Because President Duterte wants to improve [Pakistan-Philippines] relations, it has to be from both sides.”
The Pakistani ambassador disclosed that some Filipinos went to his country to import cement for the booming construction industry here.
“We produce a lot of cement. We also have a well-developed textile industry,” he boasted.
‘Heavenly mangoes,’ pharma
RASHID raved, “You [Filipinos] love mangoes? Ours is one of the best in the world! They’re very sweet [and of a] different kind. Pakistani mango is from heaven; we give it as a present to all.”
“There are [actually] lots of opportunities in agriculture like cotton and mangoes,” the Pakistani envoy continued and said his country exports the “divine” fruit to Xinjiang, China, and Illinois in the United States.
He also shared about the “big debate” on who has the better mango variety in South Asia.
“When I was in India, they claimed, ‘Ours is good.’ I protested, ‘so is ours, too,’” he insisted to his counterpart from the South Asian subcontinent.
The diplomat said he has tasted our variety of the fruit (which Filipinos would surely argue is the best in the world). Unfortunately, he found our mangoes not to his liking.
“Ours is the best,” Rashid unwaveringly declared.
He said he would try to imitate how Filipinos manufacture dried mangoes for export (theirs, according to him, are “too watery”) through “maybe, a joint venture.”
Aside from mangoes, Pakistan is also a force in pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Rashid said representatives from our Food and Drug Administration fly to his country to renew the license of exporters. However, there is a travel ban on Islamabad due to terrorist threats from Muslim fundamentalists, which results in delayed granting of permits.
“I was really surprised [that] there’s [a] travel advisory against Pakistan.”
He recalled that in Marawi City, terrorists had left the area, but not after having “victimized everything.”
“We are partners against terrorism,” the amiable ambassador assured.
Family man
PAKISTAN’S ambassador shared his family is happy by virtue of simply being based here in the Philippines.
He noted that when they were posted in Bern, Switzerland, his son, to fend off loneliness, made frequent phone calls to friends back home.
“Now, his friends call him here [and ask]: “It’s been four months, and you haven’t called?”
Rashid also revealed that his spouse is now part of the Ambassador’s Wives Association, which consists of about 30 members.
“I also like your handicrafts: [they are] neat and nicely made; my wife loves them.”
The Rashid household, he relayed, had already modeled for a popular, high-end chain of department stores.
“This kind of feeling is [something we’ve only experienced] in the Philippines. That’s the point: [We didn’t have these kinds of] smiles in Europe.”
Then he transitioned into another observation: “After 9/11, they [Europeans] had become stiff and scared from the inside.”
The good ambassador is saddened that media has played “a very negative role, especially [in] creating ‘Islamophobia.’”
“Media is really not media—in the West, it’s a corporate business.”
Islamabad’s diplomat in Manila said he has been having a wonderful time since he first stepped into the country in September 2017.
In the interview, he said he wanted to escape his country’s cold climate, which could reach minus-50 degrees Celsius at higher altitudes.
‘Asian Century’
HIS last posting being in the Vatican City, Rashid was extremely fortunate to have an audience with Pope Francis twice a year, “just in time to share the credit of the coming prosperity promised by the ‘Asian Century.’”
“This century belongs to Asia, basically with all of these developments. When there is no war, when there is peace, the cost of production is low, like here [in the Philippines. Even] the European Union is…looking toward Asia.”
The ambassador said Manila and Islamabad would focus on preferential trading.
“We’re creators of opportunities: the ground people, the workers, the businessmen on both sides.”
He also noted that the Philippine-Pakistan Business Council has been “invigorated.” To pursue that goal, he had talked to some big names in the industry, “to identify people and build institutions, [as well as] to create opportunities, as both parties have agreed that each would be advised whenever there are trade fairs on either side.”
Rashid also bared his pursuit of the idea of creating “sister-cities,” eyeing either Manila or Makati.
“But Manila is the [more famous] name; so it will be Metro Manila, even if you do it with [or in] Makati City.”
There is a Pakistani business-process outsourcing company in the Philippines, but the ambassador said most are under Indian management.
He volunteered that the bigger opportunity would be a trade in textile. A particular compatriot has been engaging in textile manufacturing in the country and has been bringing raw materials from Pakistan.
Rashid sees opportunities for fruit projects and jute manufacturing. Jute is a plant fiber used to make burlap or sacks. It is one of the most affordable natural fibers, second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses.
New ‘roads’
HE said Manila and Karachi are also alike, in that they are both port cities. The more prominent one, though, is Gwadar, a deep-sea port situated on the Arabian Sea in Balochistan province.
The port features prominently in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor plan and is considered to be a link between the ambitious One Belt, One Road (Obor) and Maritime Silk Road projects.
Rashid said Pakistan has a very big project with China, which is part of Obor.
“Yes, this is the biggest, with almost $50 billion in budget. Because of Obor, the pressure on this whole area is reduced.”
He added Pakistan has an overland trade route with China through the Karakoram Highway that the Chinese helped rebuild.
Both Islamabad and Beijing claim such as the “biggest flagship of Obor.”
Rashid claimed, “Our [Islamabad-Beijing] friendship never had any problems. We’ve always been very friendly [to each other. Notwithstanding, we are] also an ally of the US.”
He further stated, “In the 1970s Pakistan created the opportunity for the US to have a window to China, so they went through [us].”
“The difference between family relations and state relations?” He retorted, “There is no emotion involved [in the latter].”
Image credits: Rica Espiritu, Alysa Salen