Foreign Policy Roundtable Series – RT IV
The Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies has launched a ‘Foreign Policy Review’ Roundtable Series to analyze and better understand Pakistan’s relations with its global partners. We hope to bring together a coherent and holistic picture of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy, achieved through consensus, and publish the compilation in the form of a book. Three roundtables have taken place thus far, focusing on the following countries:
- Pakistan-US relations: Convergences and Divergences (November)
- Pakistan-Russia Relations: Prospects and Challenges (December)
- Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: US Drawdown and its implications on Pakistan (Earlier this month – January)
The fourth roundtable in the series concerns ‘Pakistan-China Relations: Challenges and Prospects’. The Centre recognizes that Pak-China relations have always been important for Pakistan. These relations incorporate a wide canvas of growing co-operation in strategic, security, defense, economic sectors, science and technology, culture, education and civil society. The Centre acknowledges that there is a need to understand the history as well as the contemporary context of Pakistan’s deep-rooted relations with China through a candid debate among relevant experts, dignitaries, academics and practitioners.
The Roundtable was held on Friday, January 10th, 2014, and was attended by renowned scholars and practitioners, including Senator Mushahid Hussain – the keynote speaker for the session – Former Secretary General for Foreign Affairs Ambassador (R) Akram Zaki, Prof Zhou Rong, Mr Fazalur Rehman, Dr Adil Sultan, Johan Sorensen, Dr M Khan, Ambassador (R) Arif Kamal, Mr Majid Mehmood and others. The Session was chaired by President CPGS Senator Sehar Kamran (TI), and moderated by Prof Dr Tahir Amin.
Some of the key issues discussed during the Roundtable included:
- What is the nature of Sino –Pak relations in the post Cold War era?
- What are the areas of convergence and divergence between the two countries?
- How can Pakistan improve its economic relations with China in future?
- What are the future visions of Pakistan China relations?
A comprehensive report of the event will soon be published with the consent of all speakers.