Romanian envoy hosts send-off for bikers

Ambassador Nicolae Goia of Romania invited to an Eid dinner for local and foreign staff, a visiting group of Romanian motorcyclists and other guests. The three bikers had just flown in from Bucharest with three huge and shiny Harley Davidson motorcycles as luggage.

Cosmin Neagu, Ali Popescu and Marius Ioan attended the dinner before calling it a day so they could rest before their 6am wake-up call the next morning to start their eight to10 day journey to Gilgit and the Chinese border on the Karakoram Highway.

“We will drive 400 to 500 kilometres every day and make stopovers to visit museums, shrines and people”, said one of the bikers, a jewellery importer at home.

The other two, one a military officer and the other a trader in spices, were excited about their first trip outside Europe.

“We are spending our annual leave on this tour to Pakistan and China,” they said. “We will drive all the way up to Shanghai and from there fly back home to Bucharest.”

“I am particularly glad to welcome the three bikers to Pakistan”, said Ambassador Goia. “I am sure their reports and photos will give a real and soft image of Pakistan.”

In his speech Mr Goia mentioned that Romania is celebrating its 100 years as a unified state.

“The centenary includes a number of activities, and one of them is to advertise Romania abroad, to attract tourists and expand trade,” he said, adding that Romania has the EU’s fastest growing economy.

The motorcyclists left after dinner and a photo session to sleep before starting their tour of the northern areas.

Last iftar before Eid

As Ramazan drew to an end, Moldovan Honorary Consul General Mian Mehmood and his wife held an iftar dinner at Islamabad Serena Hotel.

The chief guests on the occasion were Punjab Governor Mohammad Rafique Rajwana and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Sartaj Aziz.

The event was well attended by business people, members of the diplomatic community and the civil society. Mr Mehmood has served as the Moldovan honorary consul general since 2013.

Moldova is a small country with about three million people situated between Ukraine and Romania, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“The event was particularly friendly, ending the many iftars in Ramazan on a very pleasant note,” a local guest said.

“We will be back to everyday life soon and we will miss the friendly and peaceful evening gatherings,” he added.

“I have attended many iftar dinners and I have enjoyed all of them,” a European diplomat said.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018