Indonesia’s 70th Independence Day

Indonesia’s 70th Independence Day on August 17 was marked in Islamabad on August 25. Charge d’ affaires Samsu Rizal presided over the day at a large dinner reception. It was attended by diplomats, local and foreign dignitaries, business people, Indonesian students and other Indonesians living in Pakistan.

“Indonesians love song and music,” said a diplomat from the Netherlands, Indonesia’s former colonial master for one and a half century.

“The children and adults who entertained were good representatives of their land, clad in festive national dresses, smiling and energetic,” said the diplomat, adding that she is always pleased to see the strong Indonesian women, with their natural and pleasant behaviour.

However, the event was also a sombre occasion since ambassador Burhan Muhammad and his wife were among the several diplomats who died in the tragic helicopter accident in Naltar, Gilgit, on May 8 this year. A documentary film was shown to honour their memory.

In his speech, the chief guest, Tariq Fatemi, special adviser to the prime minister, underlined the importance of Pakistan’s cooperation in trade and other fields with Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country. The importance of the ASEAN regional cooperation was also underlined.

Moldova’s National Day celebrated

Moldova celebrated its national day for the first time in Islamabad on August 26. Honorary Consul Mian Mehmood and his wife had travelled from Lahore to host a large dinner reception in the capital. It marked Moldova’s 24th year of independence. The chief guest was Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali.

“I don’t think everyone knows exactly where Moldova is,” joked a retired Pakistani diplomat, who had knowledge about Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“Maybe it was more known when it was a republic within the Soviet Union, and we all learned the names of the countries,” he suggested, and then he explained that Moldova is situated between Romania and Ukraine, quite near the Black Sea, with a population of about three million.

The honorary consul is a businessman in the export-import sector, and he said that Pakistan has an important market in Moldova for export within the IT sector. The consul’s brother, Amir Hussain, whose birthday was also marked on the occasion, said that there was potential in several other fields, too, but not in his own main field of grapes production. Moldova on its side is strong in that field, and in other agricultural and horticultural fields, due to the country’s climate and fertile soil.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2015

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