SECRETARY GENERAL MESSAGE

Time travels on and it is now 1 year since the first seed of Pakistan Council on Foreign Relations was sown on September, 2020 from its humble beginning by handful of dedicated Founder Members, it is now a vibrant and thriving think tank with enthusiastic members who continue to contribute to its progress and success. Thus fulfilling my dreams as a Founder of this council who believed one step forward of PCFR would grow into many steps that would spread our message to all over the world through our moto “NAVIGATING THE WAY TO INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING”

The Pakistan Council is also committed to research oriented consolidation of relations between Pakistan and international community in its humble capacity, the council has started research wings that would improve the image of Pakistan and address the concerns of the international community in relations to Pakistan especially in the post 9/11 era where there is a lot of ambiguity and opaqueness about the role of Pakistan in the war against terror in spite all of its sacrifices. Also the fact that probably Pakistan is one of the most important countries in the region when moving towards peace and tangible solution in Afghanistan.

I am extremely thankful to H.E. Mr. Atadjan Movlamov Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Embassy of Turkmenistan and Dean of Diplomatic Corps ambassador of Turkmenistan and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, ambassadors of H.E Aybek Arif Usmanov, Ambassador, Uzbekistan H.E Ulanbek Totuiaev, Ambassador, Kyrgyz Republic, H.E Ismatullo Nasredin, Ambassador, Tajikistan, H.E Mr. Khazar Nadir oglu Farhadov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E Mr. Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador, Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E Markian Chuchuk, Ambassador, Ukrain, H.E. IOSEB CHAKHVASHVILI, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of Georgia, To the Islamic Republic of Iran & Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H.E. Mr. Andrei Metelitsa, Ambassador, Belarus, Federal Republic of Germany, Ambassador of France and the Dean of the European Union, H.E Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Ambassador, Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, Ambassador, Turkey, H.E Mr. Nong Rong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, People’s Republic of China, H.E. Eric Owusu-Boateng, Ambassador, Republic of Ghana, Iraqi ambassador in Pakistan H.E Hamid Abbas Lafta for their outstanding cooperation and support in arranging our meetings and addressing our Council.

My very especial thanks to Mr. Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Former Foreign Minister and our Co-Chief

Patron, Mr. Bashir Jan Muhammed, Mr. Talib Karim, Mr. Zubair Tufail and Mr Tariq Rafi, Mr. Khalid Awan, Chairman and Mr. Qasim Awan, Director TCS Logistics Pvt Ltd and Mr. Hunaid Lakhani, Chancelor Iqra University, Mr. Sultan Chawala for their continued Patronage and cooperation. The PCFR would like to focus on research which may be factored in policy making both inside and outside Pakistan, in the following:

Regional integration of South Asia: With special focus on Pakistan-India Relations.

Pakistan’s relations with ASEAN and Central Asian States: The efforts to raise the level of cooperation between ASEAN, Central Asian States and Pakistan have gained new impetus towards identifying the tremendous potential and opportunities of joint collaboration. ASEAN and Central Asian States highly value Pakistan’s cooperation and interest in promoting friendly relations with ASEAN and Central Asian States with its “Look East Policy”,

Pakistan relations with the European Union: The EU sees Pakistan as a key ally in issues such as counter terrorism and the war in Afghanistan but this vision has not yet been translated into concrete policy. The relationship has a lot of untapped potential including the areas of development assistance, counter terrorism and trade.

I am extremely great full to Chairman,Ambassador(Rtd) Shahid M.Amin and Co-Chairman ,Ambassador (Rtd) Alam Brohi and members of the Board of Governors ,members of PCFR and Office Staff of PCFR for their cooperation in running the affairs of the Council.