The graduation ceremony of 6-week long junior diplomatic course was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ms Andleeb Abbas was the Chief Guest. Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood also attended the graduation ceremony. They also distributed the certificates.

Parliamentary Secretary, in her address, said that the Junior Diplomatic course was an excellent step towards building bonds of friendship and cooperation between Pakistan and the countries that were represented by the diplomats. She also underlined the importance of diplomacy as fundamental tool to promote peace and strengthen relations. She added that the diplomats of these countries would be ambassadors of Pakistan in their countries.

Highlighting Pakistan's special focus on the African continent, the Parliamentary Secretary termed it as "continent of the future". She said that Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized an Envoys Conference on "Engage Africa", to chart out a roadmap to further strengthen and deepen its relationship with Africa. She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was ambassador of peace and his vision of "peaceful neighbourhood" was a cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy.

Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher, Director General, Foreign Service Academy (FSA), said that the course helped to create better understanding of Pakistan's foreign policy and conducive economic environment in Pakistan. He said that the course also provided a unique networking opportunity. He further said that the Academy was imparting training not only for Pakistani diplomats but also for the foreign diplomats since 1981 and have trained over 1400 FSP officers and 1372 diplomats from 107 Countries. He congratulated the participants to become part of FSA Alumni.

The Mauritian diplomat, speaking on behalf of the participants, said that the course would create a network between our countries and help in strengthening bonds of durable relations. She said that junior diplomatic course was a testimony of the strong desire and commitment of the Government of Pakistan to strengthen relations with friendly countries. She also said that all diplomats benefited from the experience and knowledge of senior Pakistani diplomats, eminent scholars and personalities.

Nineteen diplomats from fourteen friendly countries i.e. Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Iran, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine and Tunisia participated in the course.-PR