Former ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan has said that a rational approach would be for Pakistan not to take sides with either the US or China in the present world order by remaining independent and prioritizing economic reforms first
Lahore (Pakistan Point News - 25th Jan, 2025) Former ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan has said that a rational approach would be for Pakistan not to take sides with either the US or China in the present world order by remaining independent and prioritizing economic reforms first.
He was speaking at a two-day national workshop on ‘Building Bridges: Fostering Tolerance and Inclusivity among Youth’, held at a local hotel.
Students of local universities, colleges and religious seminaries were among major participants of the event organized by Islamabad-based think tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS).
“Pakistan’s policy or narrative should be that we are not part of any camp, either of the US or China,” said the ex-ambassador, terming it a rational approach. Islamabad should tell the world that we are independent, he added.
In his detailed talk on ‘Pakistan in Changing World’, former ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan and Austria Mansoor Ahmad Khan said, “Any world order doesn’t remain permanent.
It keeps on changing. It has to crumble.” He said there were some key factors due to which some countries dominated in any world order and others didn’t. These elements include military strength, economy, governance, technology and innovation, and social stability, he noted.
He emphasized that Pakistan should focus on its economy by bringing economic reforms on the top of its development agenda. “For this purpose, we will have to ensure political stability that will give an opportunity to economic reforms,” he added.
Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Allama Raghib Hussain Naeemi speaking at a panel discussion said it was the responsibility of all signatories of ‘Paigham-i-Pakistan’ to work on the implementation of this unanimous Islamic decree against extremism and terrorism but unfortunately they didn’t do. “As terrorism is again rearing its ugly head in the country, there is a dire need for adopting this document in letter and spirit,” he said, underlining that the signatories are on the back foot now.
Academic and religious scholar Dr Ammar Khan Nasir said the ‘Paigham-i-Pakistan’ was an important document against those religion-based narratives of extremism and violence, which were prevalent in Pakistani society for the last 40 years. It explicitly says that Pakistan is an Islamic state with regard to its constitution and nobody can take law into his own hands on the grounds of religion, he added.
Anchorperson and religious scholar Peer Ziaulhaq Naqshbandi suggested that an effort should be made to get endorsements from newly established educational boards for religious seminaries on the decree against extremism.
“An Awareness campaign should be launched about it to sensitize the public at large,” he added.
Anchorperson and political analyst Habib Akram speaking at another panel discussion on ‘Journalism, politics and State’ said the space for balanced and fair reporting had shrunk in Pakistan due to state censorship on media. He said journalists were facing oppression of the state for speaking the truth.
Columnist Gul Nokhaiz Akhtar opposed his view by saying that there were hundreds of ways to tell a news story, but anyone should have the art of how to present the information with some decency.
Highlighting the need for combating fake news, he said some journalists usually presented one side picture of the story in their political reporting, which had made the society highly polarized.
PIPS President Muhammad Amir Rana in his concluding remarks urged the need for critical thinking, saying it means seeing anything with a new angle by using common sense. “Common sense is cultivated through observation, acceptability and self-awareness,” he said, noting that youth should make their world view compatible with the entire world.
