Pak-Italy friendship forum holds civil societies dialogue

Islamabad:Ambassador Ali Javed hosted 5th ‘Civil Societies Dialogue’ under auspices of ‘Pak-Italy Friendship Forum’, coinciding with visiting delegation from National Defence University (NDU) Islamabad, under theme, ‘Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism; Threat to Legality & Legitimacy of International Rules-Based Order,’ says a press release

The 16 member NDU delegation was led by Air Commodore Lone and included Officers from Pakistani bureaucracy and allied officers from Saudi Arabia & Nigeria. The forum opened with key-note remarks by former Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry who traced origins of unilateralism and multilateralism while underscoring necessity for multilateral and int’l legal frameworks to deliver efficiently and transparently not selectively to ensure peace through equality among sovereign States.

Participating panellists included Father Robert McCulloch, (recipient of national award of star of Quaid-e-Azam) and a diverse team from one of leading security think tanks in Rome, ‘Centre for International Studies (CeSI), led by Marco di Liddo Director, Emmanuele Panero and Tiziano Marino Heads of Security and Asia-Pacific. Daniele Ferraguti, a junior fellow participated as observer. The two-hour event was organised and moderated by Third Secretary Shahnawaz Khan.

The ambassador highlighted the recent conflict with India and appreciated Italian positive role in the matter while calling upon world conscience to enforce ‘binding’ UNSC resolutions granting right to ‘self-determination’ to peoples of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, a universally recognised basic human right to live by free will. He added, any further failure to resolve what is ‘longest outstanding agenda item of UNSC since UN was founded’, could spiral into a dangerous conflict between nuclear states with global repercussions.

The Friendship Forum brings together Embassy with Italian Civil Society, Parliament, media, think tanks, faith and humanitarian organisations through inclusive full-spectrum insights to tackle eroding confidence in democracies, falling trust in multilateral frameworks, and growing concerns over selective justice and failure in enforcement of decisions of the international legal systems.

The forum underscores Embassy’s commitment to promoting bridges of friendship with Italian civil society through fostering informed and inclusive dialogue on contemporary challenges and opportunities.