Daily Times

Two officers of Pakistan Embassy Beijing were conferred upon Tamgha-e-imtiaz at a special investiture ceremony held at Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing on Tuesday.

Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque, on behalf of the President of Pakistan, conferred the civil award upon Second Secretary Muhammad Junaid and Education Attache, Muhammad Suleman Mahsud in recognition of their outstanding services for Pakistani students and community stranded in Wuhan during the lockdown imposed in wake of COVID-19 pandemic in early last year.

The two officers led a special solidarity mission to the epicenter of the pandemic and spent 53 days locked down in Hubei province. They provided support and reassurance to the members of Pakistani community particularly students during the lockdown.

During their stay in Wuhan, they maintained a close contact with the Embassy and concerned Chinese local authorities to provide immediate assistance to Pakistanis in need, thereby renewing the confidence of overseas Pakistanis in the Pakistan government through realizing the policy of according top priority to expatriate countrymen.

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque called the two officials as unsung heroes of Pakistan who served the Pakistani community in difficult situations.

He mentioned that two officers maintained the close collaboration between city officials, emergency institutions, and the students in different universities of Hebei province, enabling them to go through the challenge when everybody wanted to leave the city. Ambassador Moin said that through their self-sacrifice, the two officers not only showed solidarity with the people of Hubei and back home, but also looked after Pakistani students who were stranded at the time due to lockdown. He congratulated the two heroes and said that their stay in Wuhan to express solidarity with the people of China in difficult times, also solidified the China-Pakistan friendship which is very important.

He also dedicated today’s ceremony to the celebrations of 70 years of establishment of diplomatic ties and wonderful and exemplary friendship between Pakistan and China.

One of the recipients of the award Junaid Raza is an officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and posted as Second Secretary at the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing,China.

Junaid Raza is a lifelong student of Pakistan’s foreign policy and particularly, the exemplary Pakistan-China all weather strategic cooperative partnership. Following the COVID-19 outbreak centered in the Chinese city of Wuhan, he was part of the core team of the Embassy to provide relief to more than 1200 Pakistani nationals in the locked down areas.

Mr. Suleman is currently serving as Education Attache at Pakistan’s Embassy in Beijing, People’s Republic of China and he was the member of the core team constituted to facilitate Pakistani students living under lock down in several provinces of China.