Saturday 18 / May / 2024
Muscat: Welfare of the Pakistani community is a top priority for the country’s new ambassador to Oman.
During an exclusive interview with TTV, Muhammad Imran Ali Chaudhary, the ambassador of Pakistan to Oman, explained the various changes he would be bringing in during his mandate in the country.
“It has to start from the embassy,” he said, explaining why people need to take community welfare seriously. “I was very lucky in my last assignment in Barcelona that I could radically change the image of the mission there and I intend to do the same here.
“It is going to become a welfare-oriented mission – from the moment you enter the door, you are going to feel at ease, you are going to feel no formality and you are going to be taken care of,” he added. “Giving you a few examples, anything that arrives from Pakistan – the cards, the passports – they [embassy officials] will put it up on the same day on Facebook so that anyone can just check instead of calling,”
He said that for the ease of Pakistani nationals residing in Oman, six WhatsApp numbers have been provided on which they can communicate with embassy officials.
“There are six WhatsApp numbers for emergency and non-emergency purposes, which answer various queries and also emergencies,” he explained.
“These are just the first two steps, but I need to do more, and I have no hesitation in saying that I want a larger women’s area, I want a play area for the children, and I want more friendly staff coming out to help the applicant instead of the applicant going to the window.”
This is Chaudhary’s first appointment in the Middle East region having previously served in North America and Europe.
“The feelings, I have felt, have been very peculiar since I got off the plane,” he said, recalling his arrival in Oman for the first time. “There is this aura of peace in this beautiful country and sudden calm here, which I couldn’t find in the tens of years I have spent in North America and Europe.
“It is absolutely beautiful,” he said, about his impressions of the country. “The Omani people have been so welcoming and so is the government. I got the chance to meet the top military leadership which was amazing.”
Upon being asked how he felt being posted for the first time in this region and to Oman particularly, Chaudhary admitted that he did feel a bit nervous initially. “There was a certain bit of nervousness, not because of Oman, but because I have never been to the Middle East before,” he explained.
“So, I thought I would have to navigate fresh waters but the moment the people and the friends knew, they said ‘you are probably going to the best place in the Middle East’. I then Googled and YouTubed and I felt at ease.”
