Cultural diplomacy, from Pakistan to Britain

There was an interesting profile a few days ago in the NY Times about Maleeha Lodhi, the high commissioner of Pakistan in Britain. What I found particularly intriguing were some of the cultural issues she discussed.

The British are individualistic and private, as are people in many other Western societies, while the Pakistanis are more of a group and family-oriented culture, which explains this humorous but revealing insight:

The Pakistan Festival …was the most visible endeavor, so far, in Ms. Lodhi’s mission to bridge the social and cultural gap between the stiff-upper-lip British and the community togetherness of the Pakistani immigrants…

An outgoing person who thinks little of entertaining 100 people at her Hampstead residence, wine included, Ms. Lodhi says she often tries a test on British officials to illustrate that integration is a two-way street.

“The British have their own test from Norman Tebbit, a Conservative politician,” Ms. Lodhi said. “They say to immigrants, are you for the British or the Pakistani cricket team? My test for the British is: When was the last time you invited a Muslim family to dinner?”

The answer from the British is uniform, and unsettling, she said. “It’s not that we don’t invite Muslims, we don’t invite anyone,” she said.

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