Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, the Pakistan Business Professional Council (PBPC) hosted the book launch of “Terms of Frustration,” the 13th volume of Ikram Sehgal’s series, “A Personal Chronicle of Pakistan” at the Le Royal Meridien Abu Dhabi on March 6th, 2024. The event was attended by many notable personalities and they appreciated the work of Ikram Sehgal.
Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan
Your Excellency, my dear brother Ikram, Dr Qaiser Anis, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we are here this evening to celebrate the launch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of the newest book of our dear brother Ikram Sehgal, “Terms of Frustration” as they said, this is the 13th volume of his outstanding series that records his thoughts and experiences related to important events in the history of the great country of Pakistan. This new volume, like the previous ones in this remarkable series, provides readers with an excellent opportunity to enhance their understanding of Pakistan, its history, and its growing position in world affairs. It is a book of both current and historical importance.
I was privileged to write the foreword for this book when it was first published in Pakistan. I greatly enjoyed reading the book and was impressed by Ikram’s firsthand knowledge of the events it describes, along with his insightful remarks and observations, I was fascinated by Ikram’s role in shaping these events as well as by his experience in the affairs of Pakistan, the region, and the world.
This evening, I’m honored to extend special greetings to my dear brother Ikram and welcome him to Abu Dhabi and the UAE. My dear Ikram, we are privileged to honor you this evening and to celebrate with you the launch of this extraordinary volume in Abu Dhabi.
With this work, you have documented your recollections and views and, in the process, helped to chart a way forward for Pakistan to continue enhancing its positive engagement with the rest of the world. Your broad and deep experience gives you substantial authority and unique qualifications to write such an important and influential book.
My friends and colleagues, our gathering this evening expresses our pride in Ikram Sehgal and his significant contributions to Pakistan over the years. As I said before, all of us who know Ikram have come to appreciate and respect his wisdom, intellectual capacity, imaginative vision, his courage and conviction, his high-quality work, and his pursuit of excellence. Ikram is a man of our times; he stands as a striking emblem of the intelligence, creativity and productivity that characterize Pakistan’s vitality and progress.
A writer in a Pakistani publication summed up these sentiments in 2021 when he wrote and I quote,
“Every nation needs authentic voices of its own, not just voices of officials but of men and women who are deeply judicious and above all independent and informed. And for Pakistan, Ikram Sehgal is such a person, a military official, a war hero, and a successful businessman. He brings to his writing an extraordinary depth of experiences.”
Another commentator wrote and I quote again,
“The one thing I have learned from Ikram Sehgal is his humility. Despite achieving so much in life, the love he has for his country is commendable.”
I recall Ikram’s views on the future of Pakistan when he said in a newspaper interview and I quote again,
“In the coming years, we will be one of the biggest and most successful nations in the world.”
We in the United Arab Emirates share with Ikram this view about Pakistan and its future. We value our longstanding and deep-rooted relationships of brotherhood with the people of Pakistan and we are keen to enhance them further now and in the future.
His Highness, the President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has always recognized the great importance of our close relations with Pakistan. His Highness, as well as all the people of the UAE, have a deep appreciation for the common heritage and shared aspirations of our two countries. Opportunities like this one this evening will carry us a great distance toward strengthening our bilateral ties for the benefit of our people in both Pakistan and the UAE.
I am confident that this book will be received with great interest by readers everywhere. I thank Dr Qaiser Anis, the Pakistan Business Professional Council (PBPC) for hosting this launch here in the UAE and I thank all of you for your efforts to promote brotherhood, friendship and understanding between the two countries. I invite you to join me in congratulating our dear brother Ikram and wishing him great success, happiness, and good health. We admire his excellent writings and are proud of his major contributions to his beloved country.
I also invite you to join me in wishing a prosperous future for Pakistan and its great people. I pray to Allah to grant all of you and the people of Pakistan the ability to achieve all your hopes and aspirations for Pakistan’s present and future. My best wishes to all of you. Thank you very much.
Ikram Sehgal
Highness, I will say that you’ve been to Oxford and I haven’t, to start with. But it’s almost 25 years ago that we first met and it’s been a great journey because from the first day we met, I have seen in you what the ideals of a person in responsibility should be. I have tried to emulate you wherever I can, in my small way and I’ve been encouraged by you in many things. I have been very lucky to be together with you when Bank Alfalah was Habib Credit Exchange Bureau and had only three branches. And now it has over a thousand branches and almost 2 trillion in deposits, when we had hardly anything at that time.
I remember how you took us very calmly, very coolly through the modalities of corporate governance. It was corporate governance because I say with great humility that when I joined the board, I knew nothing about banking.
I still don’t know much about banking, but whatever I did, I learned because of the encouragement you gave and the way you raised that bank and invested in Pakistan, the way you showed that Pakistan had a future because you put your money where other people did not invest their money. And it was not in one thing alone Bank Alfalah by itself, it was many other things. And even now today, the maximum investment is coming from you to Pakistan, and that’s a great thing for me.
I can only say that you represent the best of everything that I see in the world because I have very rarely come across somebody with so much care and consideration, at the same time, maturity, and wisdom to guide us through very difficult times.
We can go through a lot of places where Bank Alfalah had difficult times and it was difficult not because of man-made difficulties, it was man-made and circumstance-made. But even then, you remained calm.
And I especially remember the day when we had a run on the bank, due to an unfounded rumor and where you came on Pakistan television within hours and pledged to send in $100 million that night. And people do not realize when there’s a run on one bank, it does not stop at one bank, it affects a lot of other banks and that a lot of people do not remember that day. I do remember that day. And I remember not once but many other occasions where things prevailed because of what you did and what you said. And today, you honored me and my family is here from all over and we are very grateful. I cannot even express my gratitude to you in words.
But I will say this one of the things if you remember that we were travelling in a car to Al Ain, and we said that we would write the history of the family etc. And I think if God gives me enough time, I would like to do that because I think that is what is necessary. You must record exactly how this great country was nurtured and people do not remember that today. UAE is today where it is because of the education, the amount of people education and very unofficially Dinesh attached me to Dr. T Kamali in the Higher College of Education. And I used to sit and I used to wonder what’s going on here. And this appears to have PhDs, 20 PhDs coming at a time, festival of thinkers and all that. And what you see today is a result of that great input, that great thinking that went in.
Let’s get the thing together. Let’s get well together. And these are many things that I can talk about. But I’ve been told by my host that I have a few minutes. But let me tell you Highness, you put me into real trouble with my wife with that last story. But I know she will take it in the right spirit.
But I am grateful to Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi’s father. He was my commanding officer. And I have never seen somebody so doting. He was always used to stand up for his people. And I am grateful to Hussein for being here and for you being here and I appreciate that. And thank my son, Zarar is here despite his illness. And of course, I thank my son for having flown in despite having a very personal problem. Thank you, everybody. And Highness, I am grateful to you for being my friend. That is what makes it. Thank you.
Dr Syed Qaiser Anis
Mashallah, what a good gathering and what a great event, Your Highness. I’m truly honored for the continuous support from His Highness towards the PBPC. When His Highness requested to honor Ikram Sehgal and Ikram Sehgal spoke to me, I immediately opened the doors of the council. as you can see, Mashallah,
I am truly thankful to all those who have joined us tonight. Many of them have come from Dubai and faraway places, and I am deeply grateful for their presence.
His Highness’s contribution to the council began in 2005, and he serves as the Chief Patron. Similarly, the Pakistan Embassy has been sheltering us since 2005, and the council has had the honor of having His Excellency Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, who is the 10th Ambassador as the chairman of the council.
The council has made significant efforts in its development and you all should be pleased to know that it is one of the best councils in the United Arab Emirates, as affirmed by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce.
Reza Baqir is sitting here, and he can attest to the work the council has done in promoting the Roshan Digital Account. Mashallah, we organize quarterly events and Mr. Badar, Mr. Nasim, Dr Farhan, and others actively participate in them. We continuously promote this initiative, especially Mr Baqir’s efforts, as it was a turning point, particularly during the pandemic. I must appreciate Brother Bakar for providing opportunities in areas such as housing finance, car financing, and welfare. His efforts along with those of the Pakistan State Bank and others have contributed significantly to the growth of Pakistan’s economy.
Despite the challenges faced by Pakistan’s economy, it continues to show resilience. We are a nation of hardworking individuals with 1.8 million people living in the UAE, all of whom are dedicated to their work. Observing this, the council has taken the initiative to develop a paper on how we can skill our workers.
This is a task that I discussed with His Excellency Ikram Sehgal today as well. The purpose is to address the influx of unskilled workers and promote skilled labor migration. This initiative received positive feedback and we are committed to working on it further with the support of the government and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. In addition to this, we are working on various other fronts.
For instance, we are advocating for reduced insurance costs as the cost of doing business is quite high. We are also working with the Abu Dhabi government to address issues related to corporate tax. These efforts are aimed at creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
I am thankful to Ikram Sehgal for his outstanding work. During our conversation, I asked him about the title of his book,
“Terms of Frustration.” He explained its significance, highlighting the challenges Pakistan faced in 1979 when many industries were nationalized. This decision had far-reaching consequences, leading to brain drain and economic hardships.
. However, despite these challenges, we remain hopeful for Pakistan’s future.
In conclusion, I extend my gratitude to the board members of the Pakistan Business Professional Council, as well as to Reza Baqir, Chaudhry Sab, Hussain Dawood, and all other leading personalities for their support.
Together, we will continue to work tirelessly for the betterment of Pakistan and its people. Thank you once again, Your Highness, for your friendship and support.
