Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry’s first visit to Dallas

Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry gave an extensive and detailed talk on bilateral relations with US as well as set the regional context at World Affairs Council in Dallas on 07 May 2018. Members of World Affairs Council, drawn from diverse walks of life ,deeply appreciated the perspective presented by the Ambassador of Pakistan on Afghanistan, terrorism, prospects for peace process between Pakistan and India as well as China’s role in regional stability and prosperity. Earlier, President of WAC Dallas, Jim Falk interviewed Ambassador Chaudhry for his global podcast where the Ambassador spoke about diverse issues faced by Pakistan as it moved towards another election cycle this summer.

Ambassador Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry also held a meeting with Mayor Jeff Cheney of Frisco, which is a growing city on the outskirts of Dallas with a large Pakistani American population. The Ambassador was accompanied by Consul General Aisha Farooqui and members of the community. The Ambassador expressed appreciation at the spirit of harmony and cooperation prevailing in Frisco which ensured equal opportunities to all the communities.

Later in the afternoon of 07 May, Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry had a candid conversation with the Editorial Board of Dallas Morning News, the largest daily in Dallas and North Texas. The interaction gave an opportunity to better understand Pakistan’s perspective on bilateral relations and the shift in regional and global alliances. Ambassador Chaudhry emphasized on taking a long view on bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US where a lot of time, effort, resources and good will had been invested in the last seven decades. Moreover the Pakistani American diaspora, which numbered over a million, continued this investment into the bilateral relationship through their contribution across myriad spheres of activity from business to healthcare to academia and civic engagement.

Earlier, on 06 May, the Ambassador had an exchange of views with Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D) and elected Judges of Collins County at the residence of Dr. Hasan Hashmi, an eminent physician and member of our community in Dallas. Congresswoman Johnson expressed her support not only to our community but also to Pakistan and hoped these relations would resume their earlier closeness and level of engagement.

In the evening of 06 May, in his key note speech, Ambassador sent a resounding message to the Pakistani American community of Dallas at the Annual event of Pakistan Society of North Texas that the future of the community lay in deeper and sustained engagement with the mainstream that would build upon the strong foundation laid by first generation of Pakistanis who had migrated to the US some 30 or 40 years ago. In his view, the future lay with the youth of our community and it was a collective responsibility to ensure that the Youth was given the direction, encouragement and confidence to take their rightful place as citizens of USA with a Pakistani heritage.

This was Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry’s first visit to Dallas and he took the opportunity to reach out to each segment of the society such as the community, media, think tank as well as elected officials to present Pakistan’s perspective on a range of issues. The Ambassador’s views were very well received across the full spectrum of his diverse engagements in Dallas.

Dallas,
08 May 2018.