FAISALABAD, May 5: British High Commissioner Mark Lyall Grant says President Pervez Musharraf has assured the British government that the 2007 general elections would be transparent and the uniform issue would be resolved in the light of ‘constitutional decorum’.
Speaking at the ‘Meet the Press Programme’ at the press club here on Friday, the British High Commissioner said since the UK administration supported democracy, the “assurances of the president of Pakistan in this regard are a good omen”.
He further said his country’s stance on the political set-up was clear and it was being expressed at world-renowned forums like the Commonwealth and European Union.
He said the United Kingdom would not like to see Iran as a nuclear power and the world community was conducting a series of meetings with Iranian officials to stop them from getting nuclear capability.
He said that 165,000 visa applications were processed in Pakistan for the UK, which was a huge number for any of the high commissions in Pakistan. He said 7,000 students were issued visas from Pakistan last year and the UK administration had planned to enhance the scope for Pakistani students.
Mr Grant said that the UK had signed an agreement with Pakistani authorities for uplifting its civic infrastructure, adding that the initial plan regarding it had been finalised mutually between the Faisalabad city district government and the Department for International Development, UK.
He said that under the newly-created plans UK authorities have decided to establish links with elected Nazims of district councils as well as other elected representatives for community welfare.
