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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the purpose was of his official visit to Lahore and Gujarat in February.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the purpose was of his official visit to Lahore and Gujarat in February.
Asked by
John McDonnell
(Labour)
Answered by
Jack Straw
(Labour)
Answering body
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
22 March 2005
For answer on
24 March 2005
Answered on
24 March 2005
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the purpose was of his official visit to
Lahore and Gujarat in February. [223941]
Mr. Straw: Whenever possible and appropriate, I try on trips abroad of any length to visit areas beyond the capital cities
concerned, as well as the capitals themselves. Thus in early 2004 I visited Peshawar as well as Islamabad, Pakistan, and Bangalore
as well as New Delhi, India.
In respect of my visit to Pakistan in February 2005, the proposal for a visit to Lahore came initially from the Foreign Minister of
Pakistan, Khurshid Kasuri. Lahore is his home. It is the second largest city in Pakistan, and a major centre for the media and
commerce, as well as being the capital of Punjab province. Mr. Kasuri arranged for me to meet a wide cross-section of the business
and political leaders of the province. In addition, I gave the keynote speech of my visit to Pakistan there, entitled: `Pakistan and
the United Kingdom: a modern partnership for engagement and understanding'.
I also expressed an interest in visiting one of the major centres to which many of the large UK population of people of Pakistani
heritage trace their roots. My original idea was to visit Mirpur, in Pakistani- administered Kashmir. However, I decided not to do
so for foreign policy reasons. I then sought suggestions from a number of people of Pakistani origin in the UK, in my Blackburn
constituency and elsewhere. Two suggestions were made to me--Jhelum or Gujarat in Punjab province. I decided, following advice from
officials, to visit the latter as it was easy to slot into my programme and because it is the home city of the Chief Minister of
Punjab province, Pervaiz Ellahi. During my visit to Gujarat I was also able to pursue the Government's consular and immigration
objectives.
To avoid confusion, I last visited the Indian state of Gujarat (Ahmedabad, the state capital) in September 2000.
Subjects
Ministers; Pakistan; Visits abroad; Gujarat; Lahore
Date
24 March 2005
Reference
432 c992-3W; 223941
House
House of Commons