Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Thursday announced that for the first time in Pakistan, the two-day ‘Think Tanks Forum of the Islamic Countries’ would be held on March 7-8, in Islamabad, under the joint auspices of Pakistan-China Institute (PCI), the Turkish Asian Centre for Strategic Studies (TASAM), the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and Pakistan’s Senate Committee on Defence.
Senator Mushahid Hussain is the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Think Tanks Forum, which Pakistan is hosting for the first time. Previously held every two years in Istanbul, Cairo, Baku, Baghdad and Tehran, the subject of this year’s forum is “Addressing Multi-Dimensional Security Challenges in the Islamic Countries,” and will focus on themes addressing security challenges (such as terrorism, extremism and cyber security); cooperation in defence, politics and economy; dialogue among Muslims to promote unity; as well as promoting a soft power image of Muslim countries as a whole.
The ‘Think Tanks Forum of the Islamic Countries’, has a Secretariat in Istanbul, and is a biannual gathering of the representatives of think tanks found in Muslim countries the world over. It is hosted by TASAM, a think tank based in Istanbul.
The Forum has a 9-member board of eminent persons from different Muslim countries, where Senator Mushahid Hussain, the PCI Chairman and the Senate Committee on Defence Chairman, will be representing Pakistan, while other represented countries include Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Malaysia and Sudan.
“With the active cooperation of our German partner KAS in this important event, Germany’s growing role as a bridge between the West and the East, between cultures, civilisations and religions, between Europe and Asia/the Arab World, will be reinforced,” said Senator Mushahid, as the conference would bring more than 50 top intellectuals, opinion leaders from the OIC member and observer countries, and heads of think tanks from 30 Muslim and other countries, together in Islamabad.
