British Deputy High Commission celebrates the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
The annual reception, to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday this year, was hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner to Karachi, John Tucknott MBE.
British Deputy High Commissioner John Tucknott MBE, the Chief guest Governor of Sindh, His Excellency Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan and British High Commissioner Thomas Drew CMG on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday
Karachi has the potential to be one of the world’s great cities in the next ten years
said new British High Commissioner Thomas Drew CMG at HM Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday party celebrations at the Deputy High Commission in Karachi.
The annual reception, to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday this year, was hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner to Karachi, John Tucknott MBE, on 14th April 2016 at his Residence. The Chief Guest was the Governor of Sindh, His Excellency Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan.
More than 500 dignitaries from the Government, military, civil society, the diplomatic corps, fashion, the media and business attended the red carpet event.
The British High Commissioner,the British Deputy High Commissioner and the Chief Guest toasted each other’s Heads of State, while the national anthems of both countries were played.
Speaking at the reception, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, His Excellency Thomas Drew, said:
When Her Majesty the Queen was born in 1926, Karachi had a population of around 250,000. It is now around 20m and growing fast. That makes it the 6th biggest city in the world. This says it all.
I find Karachi’s potential exciting. As a friend of Pakistan since I first arrived 10 years ago, I am also enjoying watching others wake up to that potential. The outside world may not yet view Karachi through quite the same prism as some of the world’s other mega-cities - Shanghai, Mumbai, Sao Paolo etc. But it won’t take long.
That this city and country does fulfill this huge potential is of enormous importance to the UK. The nice thing about being a British diplomat in Pakistan is that our interests really are aligned. It really is the case that what is good for Pakistan is good for the UK and vice versa. Pakistan matters to us.
We have our second biggest diplomatic mission in the world here; we have our biggest bilateral development programme here; and we have just opened the British Business Centre in Karachi to help British companies; and are about to open a new British Council Library. We are proud of the success of our British companies here – many of whom are sponsoring tonight’s party.
In short, we are behind you and want to make a difference – for Karachi, for Sindh, for Pakistan and for the UK. Even better that we can do it with friends like everyone here tonight.
Notes for Editors:
- British High Commissioner, Mr Thomas Drew CMG tweets from @TomDrewUK