British High Commissioner meets Prime Minister Pakistan

Islamabad, 20 April 2022 (TDI): Dr. Christian Turner, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, visited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif today. The High Commissioner congratulated Mr. Shehbaz Sharif on his appointment as Prime Minister and expressed the British Government’s best wishes.

UK-Pakistan ties are deep. Good first meeting with PM Shehbaz @CMShehbaz today. Looking forward to working together on shared priorities for our two countries #UKPakEkSaath 🇬🇧🇵🇰 https://t.co/XwQ61VFbSD

— Christian Turner (@CTurnerFCDO) April 20, 2022

According to a statement from the PM House, British High Commissioner Christian Turner met with newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday and emphasized the  intention of the UK to “operate closely with Pakistan on deepening and widening bilateral collaboration.”

Shehbaz was sworn in as Pakistan’s 23rd Prime Minister on April 11 after his predecessor, Imran Khan, was ousted from the office following a no-confidence motion on April 9.

The British high commissioner congratulated him on assuming office and extended the best wishes of the British government to the Prime Minister in his first meeting with him today. 

Shehbaz praised the UK’s efforts to promote education, health, and other social sectors in Pakistan, according to the Prime Minister’s office. 

The High Commissioner and the Prime Minister discussed the strong bilateral development relationship. The High Commissioner highlighted that since 2011, UK aid had supported approximately 16 million children (including 7.4 million females) to attend school.

Turner extended his gratitude to the Prime Minister and his “will to work closely with Pakistan to develop bilateral relations.”

Sharif conveyed his gratitude to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his congratulatory tweet during the meeting. He went on to say that Pakistan cherished its connections with the UK, which he said were founded on historical ties and shared interests on a wide variety of topics.  

The High Commissioner and the Prime Minister expressed their desire to collaborate closely on this and other issues of mutual concern, such as global problems and developing trade and investment ties.