To be sure, Khullar's acerbic judgements were not reserved exclusively for others. He is clearly disillusioned with his own organisation. This became clear in his opening remarks to his lecture on trade normalisation at which former Pakistan commerce secretary Zafar Mahmood was also present. Mahmood and Khullar were widely credited for being instrumental in resuming trade talks in 2011. Prefacing his lecture, Khullar said while his "good friend" Mahmood is now chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission, "I am chairman of a pathetic place."
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