NEW YORK – Over a hundred Ambassadors from all regions of the world as wellas many more diplomats and UN officials attended a reception hosted byPakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, to celebrate Pakistan Day.
In her welcoming remarks, Ambassador Lodhi said that Pakistan’s remarkablejourney since the Pakistan Resolution was adopted has been powered by thespirit and resilience of the Pakistani people.
“We are gathered here to pay tribute to them and as well as to our foundingfathers to whom we owe the creation of Pakistan,” she added. She also paidtribute to the men and women who serve as UN peacekeepers.
“They keep our flag flying high,” she told the large gathering.
Ambassador Lodhi also spoke about the significance of the day andhighlighted the role and contribution of Pakistan at the United Nations.
A large number of Ambassadors gathered around Lodhi to join in for cuttingof the cake to mark the colourful Pakistan Day celebrations.
The Pakistan Mission set up photo displays to project Pakistan’s history,culture and its contribution to United Nations peacekeeping. A specialphoto exhibit highlighted Pakistani women in UN peacekeeping.
With 6,217 troops, Pakistan is among the world’s top troop contributingcountries with peacekeepers deployed in UN Missions around the world.
Since 1960, over 200,000 Pakistani personnel have served withprofessionalism and distinction in 26 countries and 43 UN missions.
Also displayed were photographs of Pakistani women who have excelled intheir different professions and walks of life, including Mohtarma FatimaJinnah, Benazir Bhutto, Nafis Sadiq, Malala Yusufzai , Shamshad Akhtar,Tehmina Janjua and Abida Perveen.
The reception hall resounded with a soul-stirring rendition of “Dil, Dil,Pakistan,”and other songs by Haider Afzal, a young popular Pakistani singerfrom the community here.
Among Ambassadors to the UN who attended the reception were China, Russia,Iran, India, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Brazil, Cuba, Iraq,Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Jorden, Lebanon, Norway, Argentina, Indonesia,Malaysia, Thailand, Oman, Qatar, Vietnam, Croatia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and anumber of other ambassadors from Latin American, European and Arabcountries.
Also present were senior United Nations officials, UN press corpsrepresentatives and members of the Pakistani community.