| Looks to strengthen ties between Pakistan, his foundation on ‘issues of shared interests’ | Writes thanking letter to President Alvi
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Co-chairman of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates Tuesday wrote a letter to President Dr Arif Alvi wherein he lauded the latter’s high-level commitment to protecting the health and well-being of every child in Pakistan.
Bill Gates, also a co-founder of Microsoft, an American businessman and philanthropist, particularly spoke high about the work to secure a polio-free future for generations of children to come.
Thanking the President for “warmly welcoming” the billionaire philanthropist on his first-ever visit to Pakistan in February and saying that his foundation looked forward to “deepening” its relationship with the Pakistan government to tackle issues of “shared interests”.
During his day-long visit in February, Gates had held separate meetings with the president and Prime Minister Imran Khan. He had also visited the now-defunct National Command and Operation Centre, which spearheaded the country’s Covid-19 response and lauded Pakistan for its efforts to end polio.
President Alvi had conferred the Hilal-i-Pakistan award — one of the country’s highest civil awards — on him during the trip.
In his letter to the president, Gates said it was a “pleasure” meeting him and an honour to receive the award. He said he was “glad” to discuss challenges of “vital importance” with Alvi such as stunting, malnutrition, family planning and social protection programmes.
“I look forward to a deepening partnership between the government of Pakistan and our [Bill and Melinda Gates] Foundation to tackle these and other issues of shared interest,” the letter read.
He commended the president’s “ongoing high-level commitment” to protecting the health and wellbeing of Pakistan’s children, including efforts to secure a polio-free future for upcoming generations.
Gates reiterated in the letter that Pakistan had made “remarkable progress” in its fight against “wild poliovirus” with no case recorded for over a year. However, he noted that the circulation of the disease persisted in southern Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
Gates said President Alvi’s “continued engagement on polio would go a long way to accelerating Pakistan’s continued progress [in eradicating polio].” He ended the note saying “I hope we can speak again soon”.
Separately, President Dr Arif Alvi Tuesday said that collective national efforts must be made for the realisation of the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state.
He urged the need to disseminate information about the struggles and sacrifices of great leaders of the Pakistan movement so as to educate the younger generations about the ideology of Pakistan.
The president made these remarks while talking to the members of the executive committee of Nazriya Pakistan Council (Trust), that called on him, at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The president appreciated the efforts of the Trust in highlighting the ideology of Pakistan and inculcating the spirit of patriotism in the younger generation.
Chairman Nazriya Pakistan Council (NPC) Mian Muhammad Javed, briefed the president that the major aim and objective of the Trust was to spread the message of patriotism and the teachings of Islam.
He highlighted that the Trust was undertaking awareness activities throughout the country by holding debates, discussions and symposia about issues and problems confronting Pakistan.
