Due to the historical relations between the two countries, going to the UK from the region which is now Pakistan started in small numbers in the mid-19th century. During the mid-19th century, parts of what is now Pakistan was ruled by the British Raj and people from those regions were soldiers in the British Indian Army and some were deployed in other parts of the British Empire. After the Second World War, the break-up of the British Empire and the independence of Pakistan, that Pakistani immigration to the United Kingdom went up, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. This was made easier as Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth. Pakistani immigrants helped to sort out the job shortages in the British steel, textile and engineering industries. Doctors from Pakistan were recruited by the National Health Service in the 1960s.