In-House Roundtable Discussion with Foreign Delegation/Pakistan and The South Asian Region on 28th April 2014

In-House Roundtable Discussion with Foreign Delegation/Pakistan and The South Asian Region on 28th April 2014

STRATEGIC VISION INSTITUTE (SVI), ISLAMABAD

Pakistan and the South Asian Region

Strategic Vision Institute organized an In-House Roundtable discussion on “Pakistan and the South Asian Region”, held on April 28, 2014. A German delegation headed by Mr. Marc Frings from KAS participated as Guest Discussants while Mr. Ross Masood Hussain headed the SVI Delegation.

German Delegation

Mr. Marc Frings                                                                  Desk Officer, South and Central Asia, KAS, Germany

Mr. Ronny Heine                                                                Resident Representative, KAS

Mr. Fawad Haider                                                              Program Officer, KAS

SVI Delegation

Mr. Ross Masood Hussain                                               Chairperson SVI

Dr. Zafar Iqbal Cheema                                                    President/Executive Director SVI

Mr. Nasurullah Brohi                                                        Research Fellow, SVI

Ms. Ammarah Rabbani Rao                                             Research Associate, SVI

Ms. Shahzadi Tooba Hussain Syed                                 Research Associate, SVI

Ms. Beenish Altaf                                                                Research Associate, SVI

Mr. Jawad Warraich                                                           Research Associate, SVI

Mr. Ali Raza                                                                          Research Associate, SVI

Discussion

Marc Frings started the discussion with reference to the internal and external affairs of Pakistan. He was concerned about the democratic government and electoral process in South Asia. Talking about another domestic issue, Frings asked that “how would you analyze the negotiation between TTP and the current Government?” Dr. Cheema replied that TTP does not accept the constitution of Pakistan, so how would one proceed further to sit with them on the table. When one cannot meet their demands then negotiating with them would only be a waste of time. The discussion ended with the last question asked by Mr. Frings that “how Pakistan takes the power change in the South Asian region?” Dr. Cheema said that from security and external perspective, India is important for Pakistan and from domestic perspective, Afghanistan has got more importance. Pakistan is seeking to have good relationship with both the countries.

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VOTE OF THANKS BY DR. ZAFAR IQBAL CHEEMA

At the end, Chairperson, SVI, Ross Masood Husain profoundly thanked the entire august audience present in the house and said that their presence is valuable for the events organized by SVI. He paid special thanks to the Guest Speakers and Discussants for their precious inputs that enlightened the audience. He extended his gratitude towards the research and secretarial staff of the SVI for their hard work and dedication towards the SVI.