Sada-e-Watan Sydney ™
Sadaewatan@gmail.com
New High
Commissioner of Pakistan Her Excellency Naela Chohan has arrived in Australia
(Exclusive report by:
Syed Zafar Hussain, Editor-in-Chief Sada-e-Watan Sydney)
The New High Commissioner of Pakistan for Australia Her Excellency Naela Chohan has arrived in Canberra. A Respectable senior career diplomat Naela Chohan has arrived in Australia on the Morning of Monday,22 Sept 2014. The Acting High Commissioner Asima Rabbani Welcomes her and her family at the VIP Lounge.
Prior to her present
appointment Naela Chohan was serving at the Ministry of Foreign affairs
Islamabad as a Additional Secretary. The High Commissioner Her Excellency Naela
Chohan will present soon her credentials to the Governor General of Australia.
Behalf of Australian Pakistani Community, Sada-e-Watan Sydney would like to
Welcome New High Commissioner for Pakistan Her Excellency Naela Chohan. We wish
her well and assured her of our fullest cooperation.
We hope that Naela Chohan as a New envoy work hard for further strengthening the
political, economic and trade relations between Pakistan and Australia. We hope
that H.E. Naela Chohan will use her diplomatic skills for the promoting Pakistan
Australia Friendship & keep in touch with all Pakistani community living in
Australia.
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Naela Chohan
Naela Chohan
was born on 6th May1958 in Rawalpindi. She is a diplomat and feminist artist. She
has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Pakistan Film Censor Board,
and of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Employment Corporation of
Pakistan, and Inter State Gas System (Pvt). Naela Chohan is also committed to
the prohibition of global Chemical Weapons, being the first civilian and woman
to head the National Authority on the Implementation of the Convention on the
Prohibition of Chemical weapons in Pakistan.
Until end of 2013,Naela Chohan was serving as the Ambassador of Pakistan to
Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Ecuador. She has been a vocal proponent of stronger
ties between Pakistan and Latin America. At present she is Additional Secretary
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Islamabad and she is arriving soon from Pakistan to
Australia.
Naela Chohan holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from Quaid-e-Azam
University, and a PhD session certificate in International Relations from Centre
d'Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris. She also received training at
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the École du Louvre in Paris.
Naela Chohan also undertook the Executive Development Program (EDP) from the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
As a hyperpolyglot, she has demonstrated fluency in English, French, Bengali,
Punjabi, Urdu, Persian (acquired at age 35), and Spanish (acquired at age 51).
Naela Cohan’s
diplomatic assignments have included the High Commission of Pakistan in Ottawa,
the Pakistan delegation to United Nations General Assembly 41st (1987) Session
and 42nd (1988) Session, and the Embassy of Pakistan in Tehran (1989–1993), and
Kuala Lumpur (1997–2001).Until end of 2013,she was serving as the Ambassador of
Pakistan to Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Ecuador.
Naela Chohan is also committed to the prohibition of global Chemical Weapons,
being the first civilian and woman to head the National Authority on the
Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical weapons in
Pakistan.
In addition to her service as a career diplomat, she has been a member of the
Board of Directors of the Overseas Employment Corporation of Pakistan and the
Inter State Gas System Limited (Pvt); and a member of the Central Board of Film
Censors. She was also unanimously elected Chairperson of the Asia Pacific
Development Center (APDC), Kuala Lumpur (1998–2000).
In April 2011, The Pakistani embassy in Argentina unearthed a plan allegedly
prepared by the United States and some other countries to arrest Pakistani
immigrants and transfer them to the US. In a report submitted to the government,
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Argentina Naela Chohan said that it seemed to be an
effort to malign Pakistanis. According to the investigation carried out by the
Embassy, the arrested Pakistanis were legal settlers living in Ecuador for
decades. The investigation found that the arrested Pakistanis were maltreated,
beaten and forced to sign some documents, agreeing to “voluntarily return” to
their country. In her report, the Pakistani ambassador referred to a meeting
with US Ambassador to Argentina and Special Agent of the Homeland at which she
raised the issue of 32 Pakistanis detained during a joint operation conducted by
the US government and Ecuador.
The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Naela Chohan joined on 19
May, as observer, the Committee of Representatives of the Latin American
Integration Association, ALADI. Pakistan, after China (1994), Korea (2004) and
Japan (2004), is the fourth Asian country to be incorporated as an observer to
the ALADI. Ambassador Carmen Pérez Zilia Mason, in his capacity as Chairperson
of the Committee of Representatives, welcomed the arrival of Ambassador Chohan,
while stressed "its strong interest in issues of integration and the important
role [Pakistan] plays in these Latin American countries." In another passage of
his speech, Ambassador Perez Mason expressed confidence that "through its
presence in our Association as an observer, the Representative of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan, ALADI would foster closer relations with [Pakistan] and
the rest the of the Asian continent."
Naela Chohan unveiling the Allama Iqbal plaque at the Plaza de Pakistan, Buenos
Aires (2012)
The inauguration ceremony of Plaza de Pakistan was planned between Pakistan's
Independence Day on August 14 and Independence Day of Argentina on July 9. It
was also to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the
diplomatic relations between the two friendly countries. The ceremony included
the ribbon cutting by Ambassador Naela Chohan and Minister Diego Santilli
followed by unveiling of the plaque with an engraving of a verse by Allama Iqbal
which emphasises the importance of love for humanity.
Minister Diego Santilli in his speech, while appreciating the Ambassador Naela
Chohan for her role in the renovation of the Park, stated that the whole world
was reflected in the City of Buenos Aires through its monuments, squares and
parks and that Pakistan had a very special place in it.
Ambassador Chohan, in her speech thanked Chief of Government Mauricio Macri and
Minister Diego Santilli for their support and added that “We deeply appreciate
this important gesture of friendship and we need to further deepen these bonds
of friendship through mutually beneficial co-operation in trade and culture”.
Naela Chohan is married to Ambassador Musa Javed Chohan, and has two children,
Usman Waqqas Chohan and Ibrahim Abubakr Chohan.
The High Commissioner designate to Australia Her Excellency Naela Chohan
