A two-day moot on `Peace in South Asia: Opportunities and Challenges’ commenced here on Wednesday. The conference is being organized by the Pakistan Institute
of International Affairs (PIIA) to mark their 70th anniversary.
Dr. Masuma Hassan, Chairperson PIIA, in her welcome address
said `South Asia is no exception to war and conflict. It is home
to some of the most intractable disputes, including that of
Kashmir. We have invited scholars from south asia and other
countries so that we can discuss the dynamics and factors in
pursuit of peace in our region’.
Chairman Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC), Senator Mushahid Hussain, in his keynote address
further said that Peace in the region can help us achieve
untapped potential of South Asian natural resources while
providing employment opportunities to millions of youth and
eradicating poverty in the region. It will also help us wipe out
threat existing in the form of problems of water sharing, climate
change, environmental degradation.
Pakistan is the center of the regional trade and has
geo-strategic value. CPEC is the centerpiece and flagship in the
history of Pakistan, he added.
Scholars from leading think tanks, academia and diplomats in
the region were invited to participate in this conference.
Devika Mittal, Convener, Aaghaz-e-Dosti, Delhi, India,
through video message said about `Peace Education in
India-Pakistan Context: Praxis and Potentials’ in the same
session highlighted that `Focusing specifically on peace
education, a lot depends on the attitude of teachers like the
school management, towards peace education, its objective and
importance’.
`Teacher’s own understanding of these issues is crucial. In
the situation of a conflict between a teacher’s understanding and
the narrative in textbooks, it will be the teacher who will tend
to have an upper hand’.
Naresh Prasad Shrestha, Chairman, Director Institute of
Strategic and Socio-Economic Research, Kathmandu, Nepal, spoke
about Peace, Connectivity, Trade and Investment in South Asia: A
Nepalese Perspective.
The session three was about Informal Diplomacy and
Connecting with the People which was chaired by Ambassador
Najmuddin Shaikh, while Ambassador Aziz Ahmed Khan, Honorary Vice
President, Jinnah Institute, Islamabad, spoke about Informal
Diplomacy and Connecting People: Track II Dialogue Process.
Jehan Perera, Chairman, National Peace Council, Colombo, Sri
Lanka, spoke about `Priority Issues for Reconciliation in Sri Lanka’.
The session four is `Cooperation on Social Issues’ which
chaired by Senator (R) Javed Jabbar while Mahnaz Rahman,
Resident Director, Aurat Foundation, Karachi, delivered speech on
`Women’s Movement and Peace Building in South Asia’.

Source: APP