Mayor to visit Pakistan, India to promote London

london — London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced that he would visit Pakistan and India this year to promote the British capital as a destination of choice for trade and cultural ties.

Khan, whose grandparents were born in India and parents migrated from Pakistan to the UK, said he was “very excited” to become the first senior British politician in recent times to visit both the countries at the same time during the six-day, six-city tour planned before the end of this year.

“As someone whose grandparents were born in India, and whose parents moved to London from Pakistan, I feel a deep affinity for the subcontinent,” said Khan.

“What excites me most about this trip is that I know it can deliver real benefits for Londoners. Benefits in terms of business and trade, jobs and investment, and in terms of cultural and technological exchange,” he said.

While the complete itinerary of the visit is still being finalised, the mayor and his team will cover Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi as part of the Pakistan leg of the tour and New Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar in India.

The mayor described the visit as an “important mission” as there are many areas in which London can work with its counterparts across Pakistan and India, in business as well as tackling some of the “biggest challenges” such as air pollution and climate change on a city-to-city basis.

“In London we are a beacon of tolerance, respect and diversity, which I will try my best to demonstrate,” he said, when asked if he would intervene on the issue of tensions between Pakistan and India.

On Brexit, the senior Labour Party politician said that just because the UK has voted to leave the 28-member European Union (EU) does not mean that London is closed to talent from around the world.