ISMAIL DILAWAR

KARACHI: Calling upon Pakistan to look beyond neighbouring China, Europe and the United States to his Latin American region for the promotion of her international relations, Ambassador of Argentina Rodolfo J Martin-Saravia on Tuesday said that the terrorism-hit country’s goals under Operation Zarb-e-Azb were “quite well achieved”.

“But still there is a long way to go,” the outgoing envoy told a farewell breakfast hosted in his honour by Karachi Council of Foreign Relations (KCFR) at a local hotel.

This, the ambassador added, was despite the fact Islamabad had been doing very well in its fight against extremism and terrorism to restore lasting peace in the country, specially in Karachi.

Ambassador Rodolfo’s comments came in response to a question on his advice to Islamabad on the promotion of tourism in Pakistan which the 69-year-old diplomat said had all the possibilities and areas to attract tourists from all over the world.

“But the problem is your country has to do a little bit homework,” he said.

Rodolfo said the government could establish a “system of tourists group” to remove the so-called psychological barriers which were still keeping international visitors away from terrorism-hit Pakistan for security reasons.

His country, however, never has put a tourist alert on Pakistan.

Feeling “guilty” on the policy of economic closeness the governments in his country had been following for almost last 10 years, Rodolfo said the post-Dec 10 Argentine was an “open” country which would gradually remove all trade barriers with the world, including Pakistan.

Pakistan, he said, should also ensure consistency in its trade and commerce activities with his side on the chamber of commerce level.

“Don’t look only to your neighbourhood, Europe or the United States (for developing bi- and multilateral ties),” the Argentinean envoy said.

Asked to suggest a way out for long-disputing Pakistan and India in the light of his country’s row with United Kingdom over Falkland and Islas Malvinas islands, Rodolfo, who after spending almost 12 years here calls himself a Pakistani, said the two nuclear-armed neighbours should put their strained ties under different umbrellas.

Buenos Aires and London fought a brief war in 1982 to get control of the two islands, now under control by the latter.

“One umbrella should be put on the core issue of (Indian occupied) Kashmir and one on other issues… to create a segment of relations as big as possible,” said the diplomat, who is representing his country here since August, 2004 and has been decorated with the prestigious “Hilal-i-Pakistan” title.

Ambassador Rodolfo has also been officiating since July 2012 as a dean of diplomatic corps in Pakistan. His country, he said, also followed the same “umbrella” approach to advance her bilateral relations with Britain.

Earlier, KCFR Co-Chairman Admiral Shahid Karimullah (retd) termed the outgoing Argentinean envoy as a distinguished and highly-decorated diplomat having been honoured by 19 countries of the world for his 45-year-long services.

KCFR General Secretary Ahsan Mukhtar Zuberi, thanking Rodolfo for attending the 5th meeting of what the foreign envoy celled it Pakistan’s “mini” Foreign Affairs Institution, dwelt on the Council’s activities at length.

He told the well-attended gathering that KCFR was receiving positive feedbacks from international think tanks like Indian Council of World Affairs.

Among others the council generals of Russia Oleg N Avdeev and Switzerland Emil Wyss were also present on the occasion.