ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on Wednesday told the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that Pakistan was hiring translators for Russian and Chinese languages to communicate with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members, a much-needed demand to make Pakistan’s SCO membership more productive and result-oriented.
The Russian and Chinese are official languages of the SCO – a Eurasian Political, Economic, and Security Organisation.
Though Pakistan become full member of the SCO on June 9 last year but since last four or five years, the emphasize had been laid down on capacity building of Pakistan diplomats and bureaucrats – working in the Foreign Ministry – especially with regard to Chinese and Russian languages and cultural dynamics in SCO member States. However no heed was paid to that very requirement in the past.
But while briefing the Standing Committee held in Islamabad with Nuzhat Sadiq in the Chair on Wednesday, Tehmina Janjua told that since the SCO members mostly held written communication in Russian and Chinese languages; therefore, Pakistan was now hiring translators for these languages.
The Foreign Secretary also briefed the Committee about the proposed Convention Centre in Islamabad for organizing events and provision of accommodation facilities for foreign dignitaries, and said it would cost Rs 210 billion and named as “Margalla Convention Centre”.
Tehmina Janjua said the construction of Convention Centre was included in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), and added Rs 100 billion had been allocated for the project this year.
The Standing Committee was informed that the construction of the proposed Convention Centre was decided in 2015, and it might be built near the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad.
Janjua said one proposal of building the Convention Centre in F-4 and F-5 Sectors was also being considered; however, she added, the Security Institutions were reviewing the options. She said the opinions of various ministries were also being gathered in that regard.
The Foreign Secretary said all Countries of the World contained large Convention Centres. However, she said, in Pakistan, Presidents were being accommodated as well as Conferences were being organized in two Private Hotels. She said Pakistan must have a large Conference Hall wherein SAARC or other International Conferences could be organized.
