KARACHI: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that he was here in Karachi with London’s businessmen and women and is looking forward to increasing bilateral trade on equal terms.
“I have brought businessmen and businesswomen with me for the purpose of increasing bilateral trade. The trade would be done on equal terms,” Khan, who is the first ethnic minority Mayor of London, said during his visit to Habib University on Friday.
Before the talk at the auditorium in Habib University, Khan met people belonging to the business community, who represented the Youth President Organization (YPO).
“London is open. Open to trade, business, education, cultural programs, sports, and of course for the cricket World Cup 2019,” he added. Khan has also visited India before arriving in Pakistan.
Khan’s grandparents belonged to India while his parents moved to Pakistan. Khan, who is popular in the region for having his ancestral links to the two countries, is promoting trade and culture between his ancestral countries and his city of London.
Sadiq Khan was elected Mayor of London with outstanding support in May 2016.
“As you know, I am a proud Londoner. I went to Bombay, Delhi, Amritsar and Lahore and now I am in Karachi. I would say there is more in common between us that should unite us rather than dividing us,” he said.
“Great culture could shape society,” he said, adding that a culture of religious freedom, democracy and empowerment of women was in dire need of promotion.
Khan also quoted Quaid-e-Azam saying that no nation could rise at the height of glory unless women walk side by side with men.
He also advocated the need of education citing a quote from Prophet Mohammad (PBUH): “Islam promotes education. Prophet Mohammad 1400 years ago said that ‘acquire knowledge even if you have to go to China for it’. Back then, China was very difficult to reach from Makkah,” said Khan.
Sadiq believes that the right-wing parties around the world play on people’s fear rather than addressing those fears.
“They tell people that they face problems because the fault is with immigrants or Muslims. They play (politics) on their fears. They don’t have a plan to address those fears. They put the blame of problems the majority people are facing on others,” Khan said during his visit to Habib University on Friday.
He observed that frustration arises when there is a lack of opportunities and that opportunities are provided by promoting business.
“The ‘London Promise’ is that you work hard and you will get a helping hand. When someone works hard but there’s no helping hand then it ends in frustration. We must be able to provide a helping hand,” he said.
He praised the people of London who voted for him despite him belonging to an ethnic and religious minority.
“My opponents tried to use my faith and origin against me. But as Michelle Obama has said that ‘when they aim low against you, you aim high’, I planned to solve the problems of my city. People voted for me,” said Sadiq Khan while commenting on his opponents.
Replying to a question asked by students, Sadiq encouraged them saying, “To be active citizens, you are not a consumer, you are a citizen. You have to get involved in your community, in your city, in your country and report the suspicion to curb crimes.”
The mayor, responding to a query regarding his urban planning said that he believes that stealing a good idea was better than inventing a bad one. He said he sniffs the best ones around the globe to eventually to devise one for London.
He also said that the expansion of Karachi is a good thing. “If a city’s population decreases it is bad for the city. It is good when the population is increasing. It means the city is good and people want to live there.”
“But the growth is only good when it comes with planning. We are expecting that London’s population would increase to nine million in 2020. It would be 10 million by 2030. We are planning likewise,” he added.