Major Events and Projects    (2002-2003)

1.   International/National Conferences Organized by IPRI

a.       Pak-US Strategic Dialogue. A seminar on “Pak-US Strategic Dialogue” was held on 29-30 January 2002 at Islamabad Serena Hotel in collaboration with Brookings Institution, Washington DC, USA. The American and Pakistani scholars presented papers on political, military and economic dimensions of Pak-US relations including nuclear and Kashmir issue. The American participants in the Dialogue included Ambassador Nicholas Platt, President, The Asia Society; Ambassador Dennis Kux; Major General (Retired) Bill Burns, former Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Mr James Steinberg, Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy Studies Programme, Brookings Institution; Marvin G Weinbaum, Professor Emeritus, and Mr Stephen P Cohen, Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution. Pakistani scholars who contributed paper were Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, President IPRI; General (Retired) Jehangir Karamat; Mr Najamuddin Sheikh; Mr M Ziauddin, Senior Journalist; Dr Riffat Hussain, Dr Azmat Hayat, Dr Shireen M Mazari, Lieutenant General (Retired) Kamal Mateenuddin and Dr Ijaz Hussain. The proceedings of the seminar have been published as IPRI Paper entitled Pak-US Strategic Dialogue. The second US-Pak Strategic Dialogue was held at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC 16-17 July 2002. A team of six Pakistani scholars comprising Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, General (Retired) Jehangir Keramat, Mr Najamuddin Sheikh, Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema, Dr Riffat Hussain and Lieutenant General (Retired) Kamal Mateenuddin participated and presented papers.

b.      Comprehensive Security and Economic Prospects in South-West Central Asian Region. An international conference on “Comprehensive Security and Economic Prospects in South-West Central Asian Region” was held on 28-29 August 2002 at Hotel Holiday Inn, Islamabad in collaboration with Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich, Germany. The scholars were invited from China, Germany, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and the USA. The speakers presented papers on regional economic integration and perceptions on comprehensive security. The foreign scholars who participated in the seminar were Professor Marvin Weinbaum, USA; Mr Zhai Dequan, China; Dr Arne Seifert, Germany; Dr Bulent Aras, Turkey; Dr Aftab Kazi, USA; Mr Akmalov Shaislam, Uzbekistan; Mrs Ziba Farzinnia, Iran and Dr. Artyom Yu Rudnitskiy, Russian Embassy, Islamabad. The Pakistani scholars who presented papers included Dr Adnan Sarwar Khan, Dr Azmat Hayat, General (Retired) K M Arif; Dr Zafar Altaf; Dr Sarfraz K Qureshi; Ambassador (Retired) Hamidullah Khan and Dr Khalida Ghaus.

c.       Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations. A seminar on “Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations” was organised by IPRI in collaboration with Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad on 31 October 2002. Papers were presented by Bangladeshi and Pakistani scholars. The main speakers included Dr Abul Kalam, Dhaka University, Dr Tanvir A Khan, North-South University, Dhaka; Lieutenant General (Retired) Kamal Mateenuddin, Dr Shireen M Mazari and  Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema.

d.      The State of Migration and Multiculturalism in Pakistan. A 3-day national seminar on “The State of Migration and Multiculturalism in Pakistan” was held on 16-18 June 2003 at Hotel Margala, Islamabad in collaboration with UNESCO. The seminar was attended by representatives from UN agencies, NGO’s and government agencies. A selected group of scholars/experts from Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Multan, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad participated in the seminar. A comprehensive report on the proceedings was prepared. 

2. Visits by Foreign/Pakistani Scholars.  During the period under review following
             scholars/delegations   visited IPRI and held in-house discussions in areas of their expertise:-

a.        On 23 September 2002, a five member delegation from Chinese Peoples Association for Peace and Disarmament (CPAPD), Beijing, China visited IPRI and participated in an in-house discussion.

b.       On invitation of IPRI, a three member delegation from Bangladesh comprising Brigadier (Retired) M Sakhawat Hussain; Dr Abul Kalam, Dhaka University; and Dr Tanvir A Khan, North South University, Dhaka, visited Pakistan from 26 October 2002 to 1 November 2002. During the visit, the delegation participated in seminars/discussions organised by IPRI in collaboration with ISSI and FRIENDS. The delegation also visited Karachi and participated in a seminar organised by Department of International Relations, University of Karachi.

c.        A delegation from China visited IPRI on 12 December 2002 and participated in an in-house discussion. 

d.       Peter Levoy, an American scholar visited IPRI on 17 January 2003 and gave a talk on the nuclear issue which was followed by discussion.

e.        On 23 January 2003, a three member delegation from the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), Tehran, Iran, visited IPRI. The delegation comprised Mr Ali Raza Moayyeri, Deputy Foreign Minister, Iran; Dr SMK Sajjadpour, Director General, IPIS; Ms Ziba Farzinnia and Mr Khatee Zadeh, researchers at IPIS. A discussion was held on Pak-Iran relations.

f.         Ms Hiroki Fukamachi, Senior Researcher, Asia Studies Department, Institute of Development Economics, Japan visited IPRI on 30 January 2003 and after a presentation, discussion focussed on support for Afghan Reconstruction, Indo-Pak Relations, border and ethnic issues was held.

g.        Mr Andrew Kennedy, Head of Asia Programme, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), UK, visited Pakistan from 3 to 9 March 2003. During the visit, talks/discussions were organised on US and British Policies towards South and West Asia at University of Peshawar, Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad, University of the Punjab and Government College University, Lahore.

h.        Discussion with Colonel (Retired) Folker Flasse, President Humanity Care Foundation, Germany, was held on 17 March 2003.

i.         On 27 March 2003, Dr Muhammad Ahsan, a Pakistani scholar based in UK, spoke on “Globalisation and the Muslim World in the 21^st Century.”

j.          1 April 2003, HE H Kemal Gur, Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan gave a talk on “Pak-Turkish Relations” which was followed by discussion.

k.        23 April 2003, Professor Richard Bonney and Dr Asaf Hussain  from Institute for the Study of Indo-Pakistan Relations (INPAREL), Department of History, University of Leicester, UK. They discussed Indo-Pak relations and the role which INPAREL could play.

l.          7 May 2003, Dr Mohammad El-Syed Selim, Director Centre for Asian Studies, University of Cairo, Egypt made a presentation on the “Middle East Peace Process” which was followed by a very lively discussion.

m.       8 May 2003, Dr Mohammad Noman Galal, former Ambassador of Egypt to Pakistan and presently Advisor on Strategic Studies, Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research, spoke on the subject of  “Effect of the US Invasion of Iraq on the Gulf Region.” His presentation was followed by question/answer session.

n.        On 10 June 2003, a three member delegation from Bangladesh visited IPRI. The delegation was led by Mr Anwar Zahid. Other members were Mr Sedeq Khan and Mr Muhammad Nurullah. The visitors discussed Pak-BD relations. 

o.       An informal discussion with Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by Mr Kuldip Nayyar was organised at Hotel Marriott, Islamabad on 21 June 2003. In addition to IPRI scholars, a select group of foreign policy elite from Islamabad also participated in the discussion. A report of the seminar was prepared.

p.      Dr Neil Joeck, Senior Fellow, Centre for Global Security Research, USA visited IPRI on 20 June 2003 and after his remarks held discussion on “US-Pakistan Relations.” 

3.  In-House Discussions/Presentation by Pakistani Scholars

a.               An IPRI researcher’s special meeting was held on 24 October 2002. The topic under discussion was “Role of Bangladesh and Pakistan in Improving Security Environment in South Asia.”

b.               An in-house meeting with two representatives from Kashmir Information Centre was held on 1 January 2003.  

Visits Abroad and Participation by IPRI Representatives/ Delegation in Seminars/Conferences   (2002-2003)

a.         Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema participated in summer workshop organised by Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka on “Defence Technology and Cooperative Security in South Asia” held at Kalutara, Sri Lanka from 5-14 January 2002.

b.        Mr Ahmed Ijaz Malik and Ms Sadia Nasir participated in a regional seminar on “Defence and Security” organised by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo, Sri Lanka on 23-24 January 2002. Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema participated as one of the faculty members.

c.         A two member IPRI delegation comprising Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema and Brigadier (Retired) Muhammad Arshad Tariq visited China from 27-31 May 2002 and held meetings/discussions with various Chinese think-tanks and institutions with a view to developing cooperation with these institutions in the field of research for mutual benefits. Local hospitality was extended by China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA).

d.        Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema participated in 16^th Asia Pacific Roundtable organised by Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia on 2-5 June 2002.

e.         Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema along with other Pakistani scholars visited USA from 16-17 July 2002 on the invitation of Brookings Institution and participated in “US-Pak Bilateral Strategic Dialogue”.

f.          Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema visited Australia on the invitation of University of Western Australia and participated in a workshop on Kashmir Dispute held from 11-16 October 2002 at Perth. Theme of his paper was the “Role of Track Two Diplomacy in Indo-Pak Relations.”

g.         Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema visited UK on the invitation of Institute for Study of Indo-Pak Relations, University of Leicester, and participated in a conference on “Territorial Disputes and Terrorism” held on 24 October 2002.

h.         Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema visited Nepal on the invitation of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Sri Lanka, and participated in a conference on “Terrorism in South Asia: Impact on Development and Democratic Process” held at Kathmandu on 23-25 November  2002.

i.           Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema visited Thailand on the invitation of the Oriental Cultural Academy (OCA) Bangkok and delivered series of lectures on Kashmir Dispute from 25-28 January 2003. In addition, he also appeared jointly on the local television with the Chairman Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives of Thailand.

j.          Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema participated in Wilton Park Conference on “India-Pakistan Relations: Re-shaping the Agenda” held on 24 February 2003 at Wilton Park, West Sussex, UK.

k.        Dr Maqsudul Hasan Nuri, Senior Research Fellow, IPRI, on invitation from the Institute for Politics and International Studies (IPIS), Tehran, participated in the13^th International Seminar on the Persian Gulf held on 4-5 March 2003. He presented a paper on “US Plans on Iraq.”

l.           Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, on the invitation of the Centre in Security and Diplomacy, University of Birmingham, UK, participated in a seminar on “Confidence Building Measures between India and Pakistan” in Birmingham on 6-9 April 2003.

m.       Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, on the invitation of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies, Uzbekistan and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Germany, participated in an International Conference on “Central Asia in the 21^st Century: Cooperation, Partnership and Dialogue” held at Tashkent on 13-15 May 2003. He presented a paper on “Terrorism and the War against Terrorism”.

n.         Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, on the invitation of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Germany, visited Nepal and participated in a seminar on ”India-Pakistan Confrontation and Future Prospects” held at Kathmandu, Nepal from 13-14 June 2003. He presented paper on “Cost of India-Pakistan Confrontation 2002.”

o.        Mr Ahmed Ijaz Malik represented IPRI at the Salzburg Seminar, session 415, “Changing concepts of security in East Asia”, held at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria, December 3-10, 2003. Mr. Malik presented two papers on “Terrorism and the US policy in the North-East Asia” and “Changing concepts of security in South Asia”.