In an hour long meeting with British Home Office Minister Hazel Blears, Pakistan's High Commissioner to London Dr Meleeha Lodhi conveyed to her the concerns and anxiety of the British Pakistanis and expressed the hope that these would be sensitively addressed.
In the meeting at the Home Office the other day, the two discussed in detail the fallout of the 7/7 London bombings and reviewed the close co-operation between the two countries.
Dr Lodhi reiterated Pakistan's commitment to fight terrorism and briefed the British minister about measures taken by the government to promote moderation and tolerance in Pakistan.
Both agreed that fighting terrorism was the collective responsibility of the international community and had to be comprehensively addressed.
Dr Lodhi underlined that in order to effectively deal with the issues of extremism and terrorism, it was absolutely essential to address the root causes. This required both short and long term strategies.
Home Office Minister thanked the High Commissioner for briefing her about her interaction with Pakistani diaspora in Britain which she found very useful and instructive.
Hazel Blears detailed her government's outreach efforts directed at the Muslim community. Lodhi and Blears agreed to have regular exchange of views between the Home Office and the High Commission.
Dr Lodhi had been visiting British Councillors of Pakistani heritage during her drive to have a feedback from the British Pakistanis following the London bombings and promised them to convey their concerns to the British authorities.
Maleeha is visiting Slough in the outskirts of London later on Saturday to continue her ongoing meetings with the community leaders and learn about their apprehensions in the wake of the 7/7 bombings. The envoy last week had, had a three hours long brainstorming meeting with over hundred British Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Counci1lors hailing from as far as Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham, Wales, Scotland, Lancaster, Cardiff, Slough, Manchester, Leeds, Dewsbury, Nottingham and many other boroughs of Britain on the evolving situation.
They discussed issues ranging from alienated youth, and the role of mosque leaders and representatives of the wider community also came up for discussion. The meeting gave every one a chance to speak and reflect on the situation. They gave many suggestions how best the situation could be addressed by the community. Councillors briefed her of their efforts and steps for promoting inter-racial and inter-faith harmony and assured they would remain proactive in addressing the issues of the community relations in a multi-cultural British society.
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