Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named Wajid Khan, a Liberal parliamentarian of Pakistan origin, as his special advisor on South Asia and the Middle East.
Though the Liberal parliamentarian's appointment is a surprising move by the Conservative prime minister, it by no means indicates to Wajid changing his political stripe.
The statement from the Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa said that Wajid will, to start with, travel to both South Asia and the Middle East in the coming weeks and report on medium and long-term opportunities to further Canadian engagement there.
'Canada has an increasing number of interests in both South Asia and the Middle East,' Harper said in his statement, adding: 'I am delighted that Wajid will be sharing his insights on future developments with the government of Canada.'
Reacting to his appointment as special advisor to Harper, Wajid only referred to 'Canada's commitment in Afghanistan.' As head of the NATO peace keeping forces there, Canada recently lost over 15 senior army officers and troops
Khan said Canada's attention was currently focussed on South Asia and the Middle East.
Wajid Khan was born in Lahore and served in the Pakistani Air Force before moving to Canada in 1974. The official statement from Ottawa lays emphasis on his 'significant contacts, experience and cultural familiarity with South Asia and the Middle East. He has long been a prominent voice in the Toronto Pakistani and Muslim communities.'
In January, 2005, the Liberal lawmaker had visited India with the Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken and former Prime Minister Paul Martin. From there, he also went to Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Kasuri.
Khan calls himself 'passionate about increasing trade between Pakistan and India.'
