Islamabad To celebrate the 202nd anniversary of the May Revolution and National Day of his country, the ambassador of Argentina, Rodolfo Martin-Saravia hosted a reception at his residence, which was very well-attended by his numerous friends both from the diplomatic community as well as the local. The lawn had been covered with a large ‘shamiana’; it was nice and cool with the naval band entertaining the guests with some popular music as well as playing the national anthems of both countries. Photographs of Pakistan fabulous Northern Areas taken by Argentinean Tommy Heinrich were displayed around the venue. The guest of honour was Federal Minister of Petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain, but there were a number of other prominent political personalities present. Addressing the gathering the host said he was happy to see his garden full of friends. “With your presence a dream comes true, because tonight I also want to celebrate another year as Argentina’s ambassador to Pakistan” he said. “Many friends say I’m also Pakistan’s ambassador in Argentina, so I want to tell you that I’m still the Argentinean ambassador, but I feel very happy to be considered one of you. I’ve been working hard to increase our bilateral relations and I guess that the presence of so many friends is a sign of a job well done. I want to acknowledge that my success is also because I have a wonderful team and I want to publicly thank them for their collaboration.” Listing the positive aspects of the bilateral relationship he said in times of difficulty Argentina has been present to lend a friendly hand; does not seek to sell arms nor weapons of destruction but to be present in a peaceful and humanitarian manner - donation of medicines, medical training, humanitarian aid; trade, promoting investment, sponsoring the arts, encouraging sports and multiplying people to people contacts. Last but not least, the construction of the most modern and sophisticated laboratory in Punjab
that produces medicines for cancer and hepatitis, established with effort of Bago of Argentina and Ferozsons of Pakistan. Declaring that there are few moments during an ambassador’s tenure, which are turning points in bilateral relations and the visit to Argentina of Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar is going to be one of them, he went on to mention Argentina’s support for Pakistan and peace efforts during the terrible days of 1971, which resulted in the gift of the beautiful Argentina Park in Islamabad as a token of appreciation, where he has been trying for the last 3 years to convince the Pakistani government to go ahead with building the annex of the Polyclinic Hospital. “Inshallah we will do it this year”. In conclusion, he said a few words about the sovereignty dispute that Argentina maintains with the UK over the Malvinas Islands, quoting the Foreign Minister of Argentina Hector Timerman: “Argentina is the only South American country that has a part of its territory still in the hands of a colonial power and we cannot take this lightly.” Adding that it was unavoidable for him to mention an anachronistic colonial situation to his Pakistani friends who are familiar with colonialism, he thanked the government and people of Pakistan for their continuous support on the issue. “Thank you very much and also thank you to the Navy Brass Band for their brilliant performance of the National Anthems of Argentina and Pakistan” The chief guest congratulated the host on his National Day and said that ‘Rodolfo is an old friend of Pakistan — as a matter of fact he is a Pakistani.’ Pakistan and Argentina have several projects for cooperation in the oil and gas sector and we are working in very close cooperation.
