Emerging scholarship on China in Pakistan

IPS conference connects emerging scholars on China with subject specialists

In a pioneering effort of its kind, the conference ‘Emerging scholarship on China in Pakistan’ staged emerging doctoral scholars, who were studying ‘China’, to present their work on the subject, and connected them with senior diplomats, experts and practitioners who had been directly or indirectly involved in matters related to China in Pakistan.

The conference, which was held by Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad on January 26-27, 2015, was chaired by Amb (r) Akram Zaki, former senator and chairman of senate committee on foreign affairs, and commented by Abdul Salik Khan, director general, East Asian and Pacific Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, Dr. Rizwan, assistant professor, Centre for International Peace and Stability, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), and Sr. IPS associates Brig (r) Said Nazir, Air Cdre. (r) Khalid Iqbal and Cdr (r) Dr. Azhar Ahmed.

The main presenters of the conference included Fouzia Amin, who delivered a presentation on ‘Evolving Strategic Competition between US and China in Indian Ocean: Implications for South Asia’, Aasia Khattak on ‘China’s Sea port Building Policy : An Analysis of its Global Grand Strategy‘, Usman Ghani on ‘Rise of China and Implications for Asia-Pacific Security: A Trans-Pacific Competition?’, Talat Shabbir on  ‘Pakistan-China Relations in the Post-Cold War Period: Regional and Global Implications’ and Muhammad Munir on ‘Imperatives of Regional Security: A Case Study of Pakistan-China Relations in the Post 9/11 World’.

The two day program not only offered young scholars a chance to learn about multi-faceted global affairs concerning China from the veterans on the subject, but also provided them a platform to exchange ideas, share contributions and benefit from the experiences and advices of subject specialists, who viewed and examined the presentations of the emerging lot with great interest and shared their expert opinions on the matter while discussing the subject at length.

DG-IPS Khalid Rahman concluded the proceedings terming the event a very useful exercise, alongside stating that the institute will continue to hold such sessions in the future as well.

It may be mentioned that the Institute runs a vibrant study program on China that is aimed at developing greater mutual understanding between Pakistan and China, alongside realizing the latter’s discerning role regionally and globally, through academic exchanges and improved people to people contact.