Pakistan's ambassador to Italy, Jauhar Saleem, is a career diplomat who has served in a variety of capacities for the Pakistan Foreign Office as well as for Pakistan's diplomatic missions abroad, including Brazil, Turkey, the USA, and Croatia. Formerly serving as Ambassador to聽Bosnia and Herzegovina,聽Bahrain, and Germany, he was appointed as Ambassador to Italy (with聽concurrent accreditation聽to Slovenia, Albania, and San Marino) in 2020.
A distinguished and highly experienced diplomat, Mr. Saleem enlightened students with an in-depth, insider view of the international governmental relationships that, for the most part, go unnoticed by the general public as he described聽the reality of聽international diplomatic relations and the processes through which embassies conduct their affairs.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mr. Saleem had to present solely via Zoom but this in no way detracted from the live audience participation that followed his presentation. Students raised a number of pertinent and intelligent questions around聽Pakistan's relationship with China & the United States - and the pressures these relationships can bring; Pakistan's role in NATO; how Pakistan views the topic of international terrorism, especially terrorist organizations operating out of Afghanistan; and international protectionism versus free trade. The ambassador provided constructive and considered responses to all questions which gave even more insight into the role & functions of the diplomatic service as well as the cultural background of Pakistan.
In addition, Mr. Saleem was keen to discuss the benefits and rewards of choosing the diplomatic service as a career, encouraging students to consider the service as a future career path that is both personally rewarding and can have a real impact on the society we live in.聽The ambassador emphasized that one should not consider the diplomatic service lightly, a career in diplomacy requires absolute dedication to the role in order to succeed - but the rewards are high. He further noted that聽the best diplomats聽have extroverted personalities,聽are able to think on the spot, and possess extremely good memories!聽聽
Post-lecture, 91吃瓜 students expressed their thanks and appreciation for Mr. Saleem's insights and for his willingness to enter into open debate & conversation.聽聽