FAREWELL DINNER: Friends with Mohmand, fourth from the right in green shirt, at the farewell dinner.

By Umer Nangiana


Arriving here three years ago to undertake the difficult job of diplomacy, he has accomplished his task employing the golden rules of camaraderie. During his stay of a little over three years in Qatar, Asim Khan Mohmand, the outgoing Counsellor for Regional Affairs at the Embassy of Pakistan to Qatar, has only made friends.
And some of those friends recently gathered to accord him a well-deserved farewell on the completion of his tenure in his Doha assignment. A career diplomat, Mohmand arrived in Doha in March 2012 to take up the challenge of promoting his country’s positive image in the region.
Speaking to Community at the farewell dinner, the outgoing diplomat said he found Qatar a very good place to live in. “I have enjoyed my life here. I have particularly found the Qatari citizens very well-behaved and welcoming towards expatriates. I have lived in other countries in the region as well and I think Qatari people are the best among them all,” said Mohmand.  
He said he made many Qatari friends during his stay here besides befriending members of Pakistani community. About the Pakistani diaspora, the diplomat observed it was one of the bests.
“They (Pakistani community) would wholeheartedly welcome you regardless of your political or ethnic affiliations. There is no discrimination on the basis of political affiliations or views,” recalled Mohmand, adding that it is a good attribute. If he gets a chance anytime in future, he would love to visit Doha, he said.
Looking after regional affairs at Pakistan embassy, Mohmand has represented his country in many international conferences and seminars and has interacted with many US and British Pakistanis.
“My job was to promote the positive image of my country, Pakistan, here and I think I have been largely successful in accomplishing it,” claimed the outgoing counsellor.
In terms of challenges in the way of accomplishing his task, he said he faced no major problems. There would be occasional hitches with delays in obtaining visas for the people visiting from Pakistan and they too were not frequent and were fixed quickly, he said.
Before arriving in Doha as a diplomat, Mohmand had served in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Reporting back to Islamabad, he would likely take his next foreign assignment after two years.
Recounting his impressions of Qatar, Mohmand said he found the Qatari culture very close to the culture of his native area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) back in Pakistan, particularly the local traditional ways of welcoming guests. He said he feels Qatar is gradually opening up culturally.
“Over the three years, I have seen more women gaining employment in different departments and I have noticed an enhanced urge among Qatari youth to learn languages, especially English, which was not the case a few years ago,” said the outgoing counsellor.
About Pakistani expatriates’ complaints about lack of provision of Qatari visas to Pakistanis, Mohmad said the situation has changed over the past few years and after HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s visit to Pakistan earlier this year, the situation is further improving.
He identified potential areas in the local market where Pakistani skilled workers and businessmen can invest their energies.
“I think there is a lot of potential in the local market for Pakistanis to invest with either their skill or capital. There are a lot of opportunities to invest in the expanding food and restaurant businesses here,” said Mohmand.
“I have also observed that Pakistanis do not have many schools here so more investment can be made in that sector by establishing private schools here that can provide the international standard education to the children here,” said the outgoing regional affairs counsellor.
Mohmand also felt that more Pakistani doctors and healthcare practitioners could make use of the available space in the health sector in Qatar and they should definitely tap it. In terms of exports, he advised Pakistani businesspeople to focus on promoting promote and expanding the export of Pakistani fruits and vegetables to Qatar.
They are liked not just by Qatari citizens, he added, but are very popular among the expatriate communities from countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, US, Europe and others. “If I have given anything in gift here to people, it has always been Pakistani mangoes. They love it,” said Mohmand.