‘Big changes await world during Trump 2.0’

Islamabad: The NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS) organised a seminar on ‘The World during Trump 2.0: Implications for Global and Regional Peace, Security, and Stability’ at the university’s main campus here Tuesday.

Moderated by Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, DG NIPS, the seminar, featuring three keynote addresses, was attended by statesmen, former senior civil and military officials, veteran ambassadors, academics, think tank experts, scholars, researchers, and students. There was an expert consensus that big changes awaited the world during Trump 2.0. Mr Mushahid Hussain Sayed, veteran statesman and Chairperson Pakistan-China Institute, said that the return of Donald Trump to the White House augured sharp shifts in global and regional dynamics, which could also likely change traditional institutional structures and reshape governance in the United States. He noted that India’s growing isolation across South Asia, despite the American prioritisation of India, would create an unprecedentedly favourable moment that ought to be utilised by Pakistan for the greater regional interest.

Mr Masood Khalid, Pakistan’s former ambassador to China, highlighted that Trump’s cavalier penchant for unilateralism would lead to greater anti-globalisation and geo-economic fragmentation. He stressed that Pakistan must safeguard its vital interests unflinchingly, navigate the increasingly complex global geopolitical environment astutely, continue to deepen relations with China confidently, and promote relations with the US on the basis of the principle of bilateralism and mutual interest.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, DG, ISSI and former Foreign Secretary, stated that amidst the privileging of India by the US, the intensification of great-power competition, and rising global trade protectionism, Pakistan should keenly focus on political stability, economic growth, and deft navigation of bloc politics as a solid guarantee against impending geopolitical headwinds.

Ensuing was a detailed discussion on the issues of future course and pace of great-power competition, domestic challenges of great powers, imperatives of comprehensive national development, geopolitical future of South Asia, the future of peace and stability in the Middle East, expansion of BRICS, inclusive and exclusive multilateralism, and other pertinent strategic developments.