H.E. Raja Pervez Ashraf, the Prime Minister of Pakistan visited 10 Downing Street and the House of Commons where he held meetings with David Cameron and a broad range of political figures. Nick Viner, the Director of CFoP reports that Mr Ashraf said he found much common ground with our Prime Minister across a range of important issues; Mr Ashraf is very proud to be the incumbent Pakistani PM to be in office at a time when a Government will have completed its first full 5 year term with a democratically elected mandate.
During his speech at the House of Commons reception Mr Ashraf made clear his Government's commitment to fight all forms of terrorism in Pakistan and reminded his audience that huge numbers of Pakistani civilians and members of the security forces had been killed by terrorists - more than anywhere else in the world.
The Foreign Minister for Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar and H.E. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the High Commissioner to the UK, accompanied Mr Ashraf.
Our Chairman, Michael Wade, met and spoke with both Mr Ashraf and Ms Khar; afterwards he commented "The relationship between Pakistan and the UK are deep, strong and unbreakable; the Pakistani PM's visit demonstrates his willingness to work closely with our Prime Minister, David Cameron, with fluency and friendship." He added "As Conservatives we welcome the opportunity to reach out to British Pakistanis where our values and much shared history should be recognised and hope the diaspora will become supporters of Conservative Friends of Pakistan."