Islamabad
To celebrate the anniversary of the First National Government, the Ambassador of Argentina and Mrs Rodolfo Martin-Saravia hosted a grand reception at the Marriott Hotel which was attended by diplomats of different cadres; UN officials; members of civil society from the sister cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and some ex-ministers and serving ones.
The guest of honour was Minister for States and Frontier Regions Lieutenant General (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch. The national anthems of Argentina and Pakistan were played live by the Pakistan Navy Band, who played them very well.
Flowers and flags decorated the Marquee Hall; videos showing the historic and modern sites of Argentina were screened and the band continued playing for some time — popular tunes like ‘Strangers in the Night’ and others, both Pakistani and foreign, causing some guests to hum along. Of course the tunes had a slight military beat to them but who cared? The music conjured up pleasant memories when military bands played for the public in open spaces during weekends.
Addressing the gathering the host thanked his guests for accepting his invitation to celebrate the occasion — especially those who took time out from their busy schedules to do so — the guest of honour and Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs, Tarik Fatemi. He explained that the First National Government commemorates the May Revolution and the creation on May 25, 1810 of the Primera Junta, which is considered the first patriotic government of Argentina. It is considered the National Day of Argentina.
Informing that Argentina was the first country to recognize Pakistan after independence, he said the distance between the two countries did not stop them from being good friends. Recalling moments of his tenure in Pakistan he said that two aspects stood out — one the collaboration of the Argentinean company BF Biosciences Limited, a joint venture between Ferozsons Laboratories Limited and the Bagó Group of Argentina, Pakistan’s first biopharmaceutical production facility to produce hepatitis C medicine in Pakistan, making it readily available and secondly the fact that he had received Pakistan’s highest civil award, the Hilal-i-Pakistan this year, and that too while still serving. “I am proud that I was considered worthy of the award by my friends in the government,” he said “And I thank them for the honour.”
He then announced the ‘good news’ that one other collaboration in IT Technology and Telecommunication was in the pipeline and would also be beneficial and promote bilateral cooperation. “All we have achieved would not have been possible without the help and support of my embassy staff and my wife Susana,” he said. “And I thank them all.”
The guest of honour thanked the host and said he had done a great job in bringing Pakistan and Argentina closer and the growing bilateral ties were proof that a strong friendship existed between Pakistan and Argentina.
Later, after dinner was served, Argentinian music was played over the hotel system and those guests who had not rushed off to other events stayed on and enjoyed the celebrations long after the end time — interacting with the friendly host and his charming wife who were too busy earlier on looking after all their guests. There was an extended photo shoot as cell phones and cameras were pulled out to record the moment and a great time was had by all.