ISLAMABAD, NOV 06 (DNA) – Embassy of Poland arranged a grand function to celebrate its National Day and Armed Force day at a local hotel.

A large number of members of civil society, diplomats and media people attended the reception. Federal Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain was the chief guest.

Ambassador of Poland Piotr Opalinski in his speech delivered in Urdu said relations between Poland and Pakistan and deep rooted and historical adding  in 1948 Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan sanctioned an agreement with exiled members of the Polish Air Force in the UK to build newly established Pakistani Air Force.

The Polish ambassador said, experienced pilots and engineers, who tested their skill and courage during the II World War, decided not only to work for Pakistani military, but to make Pakistan their new home.

One of the most prominent Polish officers was Air Commodore Władysław Turowicz who apart from training pilots, was also one of the main creators of Pakistani missile project.

He further disclosed, most prominent memorial of historical Polish presence in Pakistan is the obelisk at Gora Qabristan Memorial in Karachi, commemorating Poles who lived there and contributed to the development of Pakistan.

“Recently I also discovered Polish graves in Rawalpindi, one of the belonging also to a pilot Władysław Banach. As you can see the Polish cooperation from the past is still visible, due to some recent discoveries and press articles even more than before”.

He said when it came to economic cooperation our goal is to foster contacts between business in order to increase the trade exchange volume.

Poland is a market with huge potential, not yet explored enough by Pakistani business, which tends to focus mainly on the EU Countries. Poland offers an interesting alternative, having less competition and at the same time offering an easy access to the rest of European markets, he added.

He said, this is the second time that he had the privilege of working in Pakistan. “My previous tenure as deputy head of the Mission between 1999 and 2005 gave me an opportunity to learn about the fascinating culture, history, and present-day of Pakistan”.

The ambassador said, while we do see a remarkable development of country’s economy and infrastructure, the real treasure of Pakistan is its warm, hardworking, friendly and welcoming people.. DNA

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