Britain Welcomes the President of Pakistan

The President had been due to visit twice before, but on both occasions the trip had to be cancelled. The first time was in 1963, the same year as the Commonwealth visit by the President of India (film of which is also included on this disc) but this was postponed when the President's deputy died shortly before departure. The second cancellation occurred in 1965 when a longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan over the sovereignty of Kashmir boiled over into full-scale war in September of that year. However, as one might expect from a film made for international diplomacy purposes no reference is made to ongoing political problems either at home or abroad. Like the Indian presidential visit of 1963, the film was commissioned by the Commonwealth Relations Office and shot in sumptuous colour by British Pathe News for screening to domestic audiences (both in the UK and in Pakistan) whose main interest would be in the pomp and ceremony of the visit, and the reception and status afforded to the President by the Queen and royal family.

Following the traditions and protocols of all state visits we see the official welcome by the Queen, the Guard of Honour and carriage procession to Buckingham Palace. In London, the Duke of Edinburgh (“a soldier himself”) is given the main duties as host, reflecting both the military background of Ayub Khan and, one suspects, the Queen’s lesser enthusiasm for weaponry, science and engineering. The masculine tone of the visit continues with tours of Britain’s nuclear power facility at Calder Hall, ICL computers and the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank. In between, every opportunity is given for the President to meet and greet Pakistanis living in Britain, including the obligatory one or two shyly smiling little girls. The film concludes with the traditional Guildhall reception and part of the President’s after-dinner speech. As the Duke of Edinburgh’s caught-on-camera grimace reveals it may be ill-advised to make jokes, however well-intentioned, at your host’s expense.