My friend and colleague David Page, who has died aged 80, was the former editor of BBC Urdu and other Asian language services, a scholar of Pakistan’s history and a committed advocate of aid to Afghanistan.

David had been the first editor of the BBC Pashto language service that was set up in 1981 following the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. There was no teaching post in a British university at that time, and David worked with a retired Pakistani army officer and experienced linguist in recruiting staff and guiding choices of language and dialect for a service that was to attract a large audience as a reliable source of news and information.