{"id":16262,"date":"2024-07-27T08:45:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T08:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=16262"},"modified":"2024-07-27T08:45:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T08:45:11","slug":"jane-marriotts-memorable-year-as-british-high-commissioner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=16262","title":{"rendered":"Jane Marriott\u2019s Memorable Year as British High Commissioner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Islamabad :\u00a0 BHC marks the 1-year anniversary of my arrival in Pakistan. And what a year it\u2019s been! It\u2019s a country that I\u2019d always wanted to live in, with a wonderful reputation in the UK thanks to its warm hospitality, natural beauty, rich cultural heritage and culinary delights. It has not disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel lucky to be able to hike in some of the most beautiful parts of the world, regularly taking advantage of the Margalla Hills on my doorstep, and some special weekends to Nathia Gali. While it wasn\u2019t the year for either of our cricket teams, it didn\u2019t take away from the electric atmosphere when I visited Rawalpindi Stadium for the PSL and the Oval in London to see the Pakistan-UK T20. Although if you saw me attempting to bat some balls with the Women\u2019s team and Marina Iqbal, safe to say I won\u2019t be getting called up any time soon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family is at the heart of society here. Earlier this year my 82-year old Mum and big sister visited, also falling in love with the country. And many of my colleagues who have had family visit have spoken of the warm welcome they\u2019ve had as they\u2019ve travelled around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could not talk about Pakistan without talking about the food! There\u2019s something quite special about walking into the office, and the smell of the world\u2019s best mangoes filling the room. From Peshawar’s Kaboob, to Multan’s Halva and Karachi’s Biryani, I have eaten well (and eaten a lot!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan, like any country, is not without its challenges. This year is a critical year for making the economic reforms necessary to ensure Pakistan\u2019s long-term success: an inclusive approach with buy in from all the key players is essential. Pakistan faces a daunting task in adapting lives and livelihoods across the country to the impacts of climate change. And the Prime Minister has declared an \u2018Education Emergency\u2019, aiming to get Pakistan\u2019s large cohort of out-of-school children back on track with their education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But having met Pakistanis from across the country, I know your strength, innovative nature and resilience puts you in an excellent position to tackle these issues head on, with the UK as a close friend and partner.
Bohat shukriya for a magnificent first year!
Jane Marriott CMG OBE
British High Commissioner to Pakistan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad :\u00a0 BHC marks the 1-year anniversary of my arrival in Pakistan. And what a year it\u2019s been! It\u2019s a country that I\u2019d always wanted to live in, with a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":16263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[202,201],"class_list":["post-16262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diplomacy-corner","tag-british-high-commission-pakistan","tag-british-high-commissioner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16264,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16262\/revisions\/16264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}