Daily Times

LAHORE: Former foreign minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri has said that India cannot isolate Pakistan but Pakistan’s intrinsic situation is isolating it from the comity of nations.

“We need to strengthen Pakistan intrinsically so that we can counter India logically and rationally,” he said while addressing the launching ceremony of one-year post-graduate diploma in Indian studies at the Centre for South Asian Studies (CDAS) on Monday.

Former Pakistani high commissioner to India Shahid Malik, Sahara for Life Trust Chairman Abrarul Haq, faculty members and a lot of students were present on the occasion.

Addressing the ceremony, Kasuri said that the resolution of bilateral enduring issues between India and Pakistan did not lies in war… the only solution of their issues was the resumption of dialogue process between the both. He said that China, too, was not in favor of confrontation between the two states and wanted them to sit on the negotiation table. In his address, Shahid Malik said that a number of institutions were working in India conclusively on Pakistan. He said that a huge number of books had been published on Pakistan in India that had shaped the cognisance of researchers. He said that launching an Indian desk was also a timely initiation that would help researchers, students and policymakers comprehend India’s mind. Furthermore, he said, the only solution to Kashmir issue was dialogue with a third-party mediation.

Prof Dr Iqbal Chawala appreciated the untiring efforts of CDAS Director Prof Dr Umbreen Javaid for commencing the diploma, holding lectures, conferences and publishing books. He said that all these efforts would help experts and intellectuals to understand India’s intensions incited by various organisations working in India like RSS and Hindutva.

Abrarul Haq said that if there was any terrorist activity executed in India, they put blame on Pakistan and Inter-Services Intelligence. He said it had been repeatedly proved that India had her own hands in carrying out terrorist attacks.

He said a new anti-Pakistan narrative was being developed by the so-called intellectuals of Pakistan that was against nationalism. By initiating this diploma, he said, a counter-narrative would be inculcated based on patriotism and nationalism.

CSAS Director Prof Dr Umbreen Javaid thanked guests as well as other distinguished speakers and the audience for gracing the event. Introducing the diploma in Indian Studies, she said that it was the first of its kind in Pakistan. Earlier, the centre had launched a journal of Indian studies and was also planning to initiate an Indian desk, she added.

Published in Daily Times, March 13^th 2018.