NEW YORK: A dialogue on the recently-launched book – From Banking to the Thorny World Politics – of former prime minister Shaukat Aziz would be held in the Asia Society in New York on July 20.
On June 28, Shaukat appeared at the Asia Society to discuss his new memoir, which he authored along with British journalist Anna Mikhailova. In his conversation with Josette Sheeran, Asia Society’s president and CEO, Shaukat spoke at length about the challenges he faced reforming a country of nearly 200 million beset by a wide range of developmental problems.
Long a mild-mannered banker and self-described workaholic, Shaukat encountered Pakistan’s rough-and-tumble political life in a personal way in 2004: He survived an assassination attempt when his motorcade was attacked in Fateh Jang city. He had said that the traumatic experience reinforced his desire to help Pakistan.
He called China’s $46 billion investment in highways, ports, and rail lines across Pakistan the best thing that has happened to the country. In a year characterized by the backlash against globalization across the United States and Europe, he reaffirmed his belief in the virtue of free trade – a force he believes would improve Pakistani relations with India.
