Like most children who grew up in traditional Asian households, Pakistan Ambassador to the Philippines Aman Rashid was expected to follow his family’s profession. In his case, it was to be a medical doctor like most everyone in his clan.
Adding to the pressure for the young Rashid was the fact that in Pakistan, doctors are highly regarded professionals with a career in medicine most sought after in society and a standing that gives the utmost prestige.
Nevertheless, the diligent son in Rashid — the youngest in his family — took him to medical school despite a feeling of uncertainty. He studied as any medical student would — intensely and vigorously — developing the kind of commitment and discipline that would make any other endeavor almost a walk in the park.
But even then, Rashid realized two years into medical school that he did not want to become a doctor. He had no idea what he wanted to do but he was certain a career in medicine was not for him.
“The question suddenly crossed my mind, ‘Was I willing to practice as a doctor?’ I knew it is a challenging profession but I was also aware it is a very committing job where you’re expected to work round the clock because you’re dealing with human life,” Rashid recalled to The Sunday Times Magazine in this one-on-one interview.
Looking back, he realized how his father’s career as an ophthalmologist contributed to his hesitation to carry on. “I witnessed how my father was always working that he hardly had time for his family because he had to be committed. And the family had no right to say anything regarding his absence.”
And yet, even with a heavy heart, Rashid fulfilled his promise to his family to finish medical school while respectfully expressing his decision not to practice as a doctor. Because by then, he already found a career he was willing to pursue to the fullest.
“I thought that if I really had the desire to serve the humanity, I can do it better as a diplomat because then the canvas and the horizon to do so is broader,” he explained.
Thankfully, he sought and was given his family’s blessing to take complete turnaround toward his future and immediately prepared to take Pakistan’s Civil and Foreign Service examinations. And in 1987 at 24 years old it became official — Rashid was accepted into the Pakistan Foreign Service.
A little over decades and several countries of posting later, The Sunday Times Magazine ventured to find out whether the Pakistan ambassador can say he truly found his calling. Can he wholeheartedly say today he did the right thing to turn his back in serving humanity as a medical doctor and instead, choosing to serve as bridge between peoples of different nations? Does he feel fulfilled in representing Pakistan in the realms of global trade and social cultural exchange? Is he making a difference in people’s lives as he would have as doctor?
These and more are questions Ambassador Aman Rashid generously and colorfully answered in the exchange that follows, while happily detailing how the 70-year-long relationship between Pakistan and the Philippines continues to grow strong, prosperous and meaningful under his watch.
The Sunday Times Magazine: What were the initial challenges you had to face when you embarked on a career in foreign service?
As with anything, if you want to do your job in the most professional way, the first thing to do is learn.
I take everything as a challenge, but with the kind of life and discipline I had as a medical student, the challenge of learning the things I had to learn for foreign service were not as difficult as one would imagine it to be. In medical school, you are so focused, you have to put up long hours and these traits already became part of me before I shifted careers, so sure, it was a challenge to do so but it actually became a pleasant change too.
Following how you value learning and past experiences in dealing with the present, how do you think your previous postings helped you get settled in Manila.
I have to say that my previous posts actually had me wanting to go to Manila. All my career, most of the time I had been posted in a country that has snow! I’m not really complaining about them, but you know coming from Pakistan — which also has four seasons — sometimes you just want to be assigned to a different setting. So it was my own choice to come to Manila.
Moreover, during my career in foreign service, I have continuously interacted with Filipinos in different levels — from the diplomatic level all the way to house workers [domestic helpers] — so you can say I’m familiar with the culture.
Also, I wanted to serve in Asia because this century, I believe, belongs to us Asians. I have never served in Asia as an ambassador so it was a plus factor for me [to be posted here].
Additionally, I find it interesting that in the Philippines, despite the fact that you are a Catholic country, there are a lot of pluralistic societies, like the Muslims and the Christians living together in a very harmonious manner. In fact in the United Nations (UN), the Philippines is among the countries that promotes interfaith dialogue.
And by the way, at the UN, Pakistan and the Philippines closely cooperate each other, not only in terms of having the same opinions, but also literally since seating is arranged alphabetically, and we are always sitting next to each other.
When you eventually arrived in the Philippines though, what were your immediate impressions of the country?
They were very good. When I come to a country, my country’s reputation precedes me, because as ambassador, I’m not Mr. Rashid but Ambassador of Pakistan.
In my case here in the Philippines though, it turned out to be a very pleasant experience and a very positive thing because I was received with a lot of warmth and smiles, not only by officials, but by people in general. That’s why my family and I are very comfortable here because we’ve been received with so much love and affection. I mean, there are no Pakistan biases or negativity in the Philippines.
So I will always say I was received in a very pleasant way in this country than when in other countries and for me, it just speaks of the cordiality and the openness of the people of the Philippines.
In fact, in my first meeting and presentation of credentials, I was also very warmly received by President Duterte. He told me that he has a special place for Pakistan in his heart and he was very forthcoming to improve relations between the two countries.
So I think we’ve been received at the highest level and at the leadership level very positively. And I really appreciate that at the highest level, there’s equanimity that the Philippines would like to have better and improved relations with Pakistan.
What do the Philippines and Pakistan have in common?
We’re both developing countries. We have the same kind of agrarian economies and social economic standards.
With our new government, the new Prime Minister Imran Khan has only been in office for about seven months now and his main political campaign and slogan was to bring justice to people and to uplift the poor. And this is exactly in conformity with what President Duterte is saying.
The other thing very interesting I noticed is that one of your main sources of foreign exchange earning in Philippines is from overseas workers, which is similar in Pakistan.
I believe we also have similarities in history because we also had a US camp just like the Philippines.
So to reiterate, we have similarities not only in terms of culture but of being family-oriented with social commonalities and our status of development.
All in all, these allow both sides to identify with one another more easily. We have the same skin color and neither countries have stereotypes or negativity for one another.
I can say this because I went to the Fletcher School in Boston and did my masters in diplomacy there from 1990 to 1992. At that time, it was very convenient [to study there] and [the people were] very open. But after 9/11, there came a concept of the clash of civilizations and it really created some friction between the West and the Muslim world, unfortunately.
But here in the Philippines, it’s very open. Filipinos have no biases at least against my country. So that’s a very positive thing.
Can you share what you know of the diplomatic history between Pakistan and the Philippines?
Pakistan gained independence in 1947 and it was in 1949 that the Philippines first opened an office in Karachi, which was initially the capital of Pakistan. That started the diplomatic relations of the two countries. And this year, we are on our 70th year of diplomatic ties so both countries agreed to celebrate the milestone.
In the past I believe the late President Ferdinand Marcos visited Pakistan and now, I think we are again expecting a visit from Philippines to Pakistan at the highest level.
What are some of the projects you have established so far at the Pakistan Embassy in Manila?
The job of the ambassador is to institutionalize the links between two countries, so when I came in we had the bilateral political consultation in January 2018.
Going back in history, our two countries signed an agreement for the Joint Economic Commission in 2009 but the exchange and meeting never happened. So for me, one of the biggest achievements of my posting was in February 2018 when we finally held that exchange with Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ceferino Rodolfo who led a delegation to Pakistan. It was a very fruitful exchange.
Then on the second day, they had businessmen meeting here for Pakistan businessmen in the country.
The outcome was to work on a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between our two countries because of the constraints for us as an outsider of the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]. Although we are the sectoral dialogue partner of Asean, to do business for us is difficult because the 10-member countries have their own trade regime. So this is one of the reasons why we have to think of ways and means of encouraging and increasing our trade.
Pakistan is exporting cement and now that you have the “Build, Build, Build” policy of President Duterte, your requirement of cement is unimaginable. We produce large quantities of cement.
Pakistan also has an agricultural economy. We have four seasons, so we grow rice, we grow all the crops and we are also self-sufficient. We always have an ample amount of production of rice to be exported, which is what I always tell Secretary Manny Piñol of the Department of Agriculture.
Another landmark achievement is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on agriculture population. We signed it on the 17th of October — myself and Secretary Piñol. So now it covers all the different aspects of agriculture — food crops, food chain and the agribusiness industry because you also have a very strong agriculture industry especially in making dry foods. So there’s a lot of opportunities for cooperation.
Recently, from February 24 to 26, we had a high level delegation under the Pakistan-Philippines Business Council because we have reinvigorated this relationship. Almost 24 exporters to the Philppines from the rice, pharmaceutical and cement sectors came. In fact, one of the them said he is developing international food in Pakistan and negotiated with Jollibee, so maybe we’ll be opening a branch in Lahore.
There are a lot of areas of cooperation which can be developed. There is a strong desire on both sides for exchanges. The challenge is to translate this desire into action and your side and my side are trying our best to do that.
As of now then, what can be expected of these constant developments between our two countries?
We are working on to make Makati and Karachi as sister cities. As both have same culture and Karachi is our business hub. So that is one of my goals, to at least have a sister city agreement so we can bring people together.
With a sisterhood, we can bring people together because it provides us an apolitical forum where you can have any interaction under the sister city, youth exchanges, professional lectures, and you can have business exchanges, just to name a few.
Can you give us an insight into your leadership style as ambassador?
In terms of leadership style, I see myself not only as the head of the administration but the head of the family also.
Half of the people working for me are locals who already have their homes here, but the rest of the staff are from Pakistan too, so it’s not only their professional requirement and competence which matters to me, but also their welfare.
On the other hand, my demand from the staff is discipline and responsibility.
Considering the challenges of a career in diplomatic service, what fulfillment do you achieve from choosing this career over your original profession?
I would say the fulfillment is felt both in my professional life as well as my family life. All human beings have a desire to travel overseas and go for tourism for new experiences. Foreign service allows you that but with a vivid sense of purpose, a sense of commitment and a sense of contribution.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to represent my country at the highest level so besides the satisfaction of traveling overseas, this career is also very emotionally satisfying because you’re doing something very few people do.
So if I compare this career to medicine, medicine also serves humanity and yet foreign service has a bigger, larger canvas where you are able to contribute towards making policies, bringing the people of two countries where you are representative together in very meaningful ways.
At the end of the day, do you feel you have found your life’s purpose in shifting careers?
Life is a continuous learning experience. I have no regrets.
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Aman Rashid’s 32-year career highlights
1987: Joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan
1992: Obtained Masters Degree in International Relations from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Medford, USA
1987 to 1990 and 1992 to 1994: Served at the Headquarters of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Desk Officer
1998 to 2000 and 2004 to 2007: Served at the Headquarters of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director
2012 to 2013: Served at the Headquarters of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director General
*Held various diplomatic assignments in Pakistan Missions abroad:
1995 to 1997: Paris, France (Unesco)
2001 to 2003: New Delhi, India
2007 to 2010: Chicago, USA
2010 to 2012: Tehran, Iran
November 2013 to August 2017: Served as Ambassador of Pakistan to Switzerland with concurrent accreditation to Liechtenstein and the Holy See
September 2017: Ambassador of Pakistan to the Republic of Philippines
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