Experts call for learning from past foreign and security policy mistakes

Our Correspondent
PESHAWAR: Former ambassador and veteran statesman Rustam Shah Mohmand has stressed that Pakistan needs to play a proactive role in the region vis-à-vis Afghanistan as it was evident that stability or instability in Afghanistan resonate with Pakistan in parallel.
Instead of making further policy dichotomies, Pakistan needs to develop a robust policy concerning Afghanistan. For Pakistan, it is a time to pause, reflect, assess, and consider the dangers that loom on the horizon if Afghanistan remains unstable for a longer time.
He was addressing a seminar titled Askariyat Kay Khadshaat, Mazi Ka Sabaq Aur Darkar Hikmat-e-Amli (Fears of Re-emergence of Militancy; Lesson from the Past and Required Strategy) combined with the book launch of Dehshat Gardi Kay Khilaf Jang: Pak Amrika Ta’awun Aur Is Kay Asarat (War Against Terrorism: Pak-US Relations and its Impacts), the ninth book of the ‘Armughan-e-Khurshid Series’ recently published in two volumes, which compiles the writings and speeches of Prof. Khurshid Ahmad, a veteran politician, eminent scholar, economist, founder and patron-in-chief of Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) on a variety of subjects of national significance.
The seminar, hosted by Qurtuba University, Peshawar and co-chaired by Khalid Rahman, chairman IPS, and Dr. Muhammad Azhar Khan Niyazi, chairman, Qurtuba Education System, was also addressed by Professor Dr. Fakhr-ul-Islam, director, Pakistan Study Center, Peshawar University, Mahmood Jan Babar, journalist and columnist, Dr. Shahzad Iqbal Sham, senior research fellow at IPS, and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Riaz Khan, dean, Qurtuba University.