Critical issues facing South Asia: Politics, Security & non-traditional challenges
The India Study Centre (ISC) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) organized the launch of a new ISSI book, titled “Critical Issues Facing South Asia: Politics, Security, and Non-Traditional Challenges.”
The book contains research articles by young researchers, prepared under the ISSI’s NextGen program. Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, graced the occasion as chief guest. Other speakers included Dr. ShabanaFayyaz, Chairperson, Department of Strategic Studies, QAU, Islamabad; and Dr. AsmaShakirKhawaja, Executive Director of CISS AJK.
In his special remarks on the occasion, Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani congratulated the ISSI on this initiative and appreciated the authors for producing excellent research work, full of innovative ideas. He noted that the subjects forming part of the book included myriad dimensions of Pakistan-India relations and a number of cross-cutting regional issues, which were very relevant and had currency in discussions among diplomatic as well as political circles. In the context of terrorism, for instance, he underlined that Pakistan was not alone in suffering from state-sponsored terrorism, other South Asian states including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal were also victims of terrorism inflicted on their lands from the common neighbor.
Ambassador Jilani underlined that for resolving Pakistan-India disputes, and for ensuring durable peace in the region, it was essential to revive the dialogue process, as disengagement could ignite serious conflict in a nuclearized South Asia.
Specifically, Ambassador Jilani made six recommendations: (i) resumption of Pakistan-India dialogue; (ii) revival of discussions on all issues — from the core Jammu & Kashmir dispute to Siachen, Sir Creek and terrorism; (iii) revival of Kashmir-related CBMs; (iv) respect for and adherence to the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in letter and spirit; (v) establishment of permanent mechanism to address nuclear-related issues; and (vi) revival of the SAARC process for regional cooperation. DG ISSI Ambassador SohailMahmood stated that engagement with the NextGen scholars was part of the ISSI’s new vision.
