Hamid Asghar Khan - Pakistan's heartbreak: a country on the brink

Hosted by: Australian Institute of International Affairs, NSW

The event will start on: Tuesday, 07 September 2010 6:00 PM

And will end on: Tuesday, 07 September 2010 7:30 PM

At The Glover Cottages, Sydney

124 Kent Street , Sydney NSW

02 8011 4728     nsw.branch@aiia.asn.au

Posted by: nsw   

The images and statistics from the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Pakistan are heartbreaking, almost overwhelming.

Pakistan is enduring its worst flooding for 80 years, with about 20 million people - roughly equivalent to the entire population of Australia - displaced. Millions of these still have no food, no shelter, and no drinkable water. Cholera is spreading.

 As well as these immediate crises the Pakistan people are facing, there will also be a long-term impact. Farming is Pakistan’s greatest economic activity, but agriculture officials are estimating that 17 million acres of farmland are under water. There is littletime frame remaining for the farmers to plant the seeds for food production in 2011. And instead of fighting Taliban insurgents, Pakistan’s Army’s attention been diverted to help in the relief effort. 

But  hard-line Islamic groups have also stepped in to provide aid where the government has failed to reach, and the Taliban is exploiting the situation. The New York Times recently reported that Pakistan’s worst natural calamity had “ruined just about every physical strand that knit this country together — roads, bridges, schools, health clinics, electricity and communications.”

Come and meet Hamid Asghar Khan, Pakistan’s consul-general in Sydney, who will provide an up to date analysis of the outlook, and answer questions about his country’s plight, including its attempt to counter the insurgents and restore stability.

Hamid Asghar Khan came to Sydney last year after a long career in Pakistan’s diplomatic service, which he joined in 1992. He has served abroad in Madrid, Bonn, London and Dubai, as well as periods in his country’s foreign ministry in Islamabad, and as head of the ministry’s office in Punjab. 

Mr Khan was educated in England and France, and has a master’s degree in business administration. He lists his interests as agriculture, architecture, nature, conservation, good governance, and freedom of expression.

Additional resources:

View video and visit the BBC's special web site on Pakistan floods

Listen to special report by the ABC's South Asia correspondent, Sally Sara