DAMMAM — Pakistani Ambassador Khan Hasham bin Siddique has assured the Pakistani community in the Eastern Province that the embassy was trying its best to open sub offices in the cities of Dammam and Madinah. Though these offices will not have status of consulate but they will provide all consular services to Pakistani nationals as well as Saudis.

Except for the United States, no other country has a Consulate General in the Eastern Province.

However, the Indian mission has outsourced its services to a national company that provides all support, passport and attestation services. The Pakistani and several other embassies send their consular team to Dammam and elsewhere in the Kingdom on weekly, fortnightly and monthly basis to provide services to its nationals.

Ambassador Siddique gave this assurance during an annual community dinner here this week.

The purpose of the gathering was to listen to the grievances of the Pakistani community in the Eastern Province and find fitting solutions. The Pakistani envoy, who was the chief guest, said that his main objective is to improve relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

He disclosed that a delegation of Saudi Commerce Ministry will be visiting Pakistan soon to improve trade relation. He also mentioned that he is trying to include Saudi Arabia in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Speaking on the hardship faced by the Pakistani community in the Eastern Province, the ambassador assured that the embassy will look into all the issues to resolve their problems. He said he was fully aware of problems faced by Pakistanis due to absence of a permanent consular services in the Eastern Province.

He said that the Pakistani authorities were working hard to open a consular office in Dammam and Madinah. “Once such offices are opened several problems will be resolved.

Later in an open question answer session the Pakistani ambassador and his embassy staff replied to several questions raised by community members.

The community members welcomed such initiatives and said that a proper and continuous communication will surely boost confidence of Pakistani community and solve their problems. — SG