Roundtable “Russian-Pakistani Relations: Problems and Prospects”

On November 12, the School of International Regional Studies of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, the HSE University, in cooperation with the Provincial Youth Assembly (Pakistan) held the International Youth Roundtable “Russian-Pakistani Relations: Problems and Prospects” as part of the International Youth Dialogue “The Voice of the Future”.

The guests of the event were greeted by Vera Vishnyakova, Head of the School of International Regional Studies, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, HSE University. She stated that the project is aimed at developing the dialogue between young people of Russia and the global community. The School of International Regional Studies supports mutual understanding of young people from the world. The first event is organized with the Provincial Youth Assembly of Pakistan and dedicated to the discussion of Russian-Pakistani relations, problems and prospects.

The HSE Vice Rector responsible for international cooperation, Ivan Prostakov welcomed all the young people and expressed his hope to enlarge cooperation with Pakistan. For now, 30 students from Pakistan study at HSE University, and though it was named the Higher School of Economics, in fact this is a comprehensive university, where students can study not only economics, but also psychology, management, mathematics, history and so on. The lack of mutual understanding generates most of the problems we have nowadays and this Dialogue will help both sides understand the common challenges and ways to eliminate them. Ivan Prostakov noted that HSE University is looking forward to seeing more international students from Pakistan, as well as new academic partners and scientists.

The other guest was Andrey Fesyun, Director, Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Karachi, who stated that such dialogue is a great opportunity for both Russian and Pakistani young leaders.

The next speaker, Arsalla Khan, Honorary Consul of Russian Federation in Pakistan (Peshawar) said that he was proud and privileged to contribute to this event and expressed his sincere appreciation to the organizing committee. The  diplomat emphasized that cultural diversity and understanding of different mentalities are the main skills that young leaders need to develop.

Yahya Amin Khan, Youth Chief Minister, Provincial Youth Assembly Pakistan thanked everyone contributed to the meeting, especially to the organizers and the speakers and shared his aspirations at improving the bilateral cooperation in the future.

The moderation of the meeting, the Head of International Youth Dialogue “The Voice of the Future”, President of Russian Middle East Association Murad Sadygzade welcomed all the participants and wished them fruitful discussion and future cooperation stressing that the future depends heavily on the youth but remembering the past is also vitally important.

The participants of the event discussed several important issues, most of them were devoted to economic development, bilateral cooperation and the direction of common work of young leaders.

Historical background

The first speaker Muhammad Kamran, Youth Minister for Human rights Provincial Youth Assembly Pakistan, Executive Member Model United Nations discussed with the participants the historical background of the relations of Pakistan with India, the USA and Russia. The other speaker, Mekhti Mekhtiev, Researcher of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation mentioned as well that Pakistan and Russia have long history of cooperation, while Pakistan was one of the first country to recognize independent Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. One of the sensitive issues is the dispute over Kashmir that involves all Pakistan, India and China and affects the security in the region. This also includes the issue of the human rights that sometimes is neglected due to the territorial and religious conflicts.

During the discussion the participants shaped the mutual areas of cooperation for both countries:

• Education and research
• Joint military exercises
• Socio-cultural exchange
• Trade, economic and technological cooperation
• Joint security and defense trainings
• Free trade economy
• Improved transportation R-PEC

Share of two countries in the global economy

Mekhti Mekhtiev also shared the economic aspect of the development of both countries. The COVID-19 pandemic highly influenced on the global economy and international affairs. The global economy, which had been built during many years collapsed just in one spring. Though, the speaker believes that the countries are on their way of rebuilding their economic systems. While Russia is export-oriented country, its currency is fully convertible and Russia actively participates in international organizations like EAEU and BRICS. Pakistan, in its turn, also participates in regional organizations, therefore, Russia and Pakistan can be partners not only on the bilateral but on the multilateral levels. There is a positive tendency to developing international regional cooperation, so the speaker hopes that there will be even more cooperation in the future.

Russia can benefit from cooperation with Pakistan, namely by means of the Russian-Pakistani Economic Corridor, the inclusion of Russia to Pakistani trade and investments projects, as well as military and defense projects and operations against drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

Academic cooperation

Sikharulidze David, Vice-Chair, Eurasian Research Institute for Peace Development stated that Russia is interested in developing efficient international dialogue and expand its network of professional community. To talk about educational community, two years ago an NGO in Moscow managed to organize the international forum to discuss the international issues with the young leaders from the whole Asia-Pacific. The speaker proposed to the NGOs to work in the direction of sustainable goals of the UN, organize the regular international forums and conferences and to create the effective community of young people. The other important sphere of cooperation is the space tech study that can improve the political and security ties. Both countries are now aspiring to become the leading powers not only within the Earth but as well in the space prioritizing the cooperation than competition.

Saddam Sheikh, Youth Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Provincial Youth Assembly Pakistan; District Coordinator of SDG Academy Pakistan; Executive Committee Member of Engineers Grand Alliance Pakistan discussed with the participants the development of technology and communications that have made the world a global village. However, the bilateral cooperation of the countries has some problems, among which are:

• Underdeveloped economic ties
• Trust deficit in some spheres
• Weak people-to-people communication
• Lack of cross-cultural understanding
• Economic imbalance
• Technology gaps
• Low trade investments
• Regional instability

The role of young leaders

As for the role of the youth, it’s vitally important for both countries to study the languages of each other to accelerate the cooperation, to improve the images of their counties in the media and academic literature. Concerning economic and political affairs, the young leaders should give up striving for power and work on mutual cooperation.

Sadia Omar, Legal Advisor Pakistan Legal aid. (Free Legal Aid for women who cannot afford); Vice principal at Allied school; Executive Member of Pakistan Academy of Rural Development (PARD) discussed the possible tracks of improving cultural cooperation and youth exchanges, while many misunderstandings lie in the differences of the cultures and languages. It is important to develop humanitarian cooperation, work of small and medium enterprises, NGOs and health organizations.

The speaker from the Russian side, Ksenia Koltunova, Head, Direction of community and communications at University; Member, the State Duma of the Russian Federation's Board of experts about entrepreneurship; Expert at the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation; Member of Supervisory Council at the Alfa Caspian International Foundation (Fund Alfa Caspian) also mentioned the value of human capital in the developing economic potential of both countries. The young leaders should work on common business projects in such areas as energy, agriculture, chemistry, textile and Internet.

The participants from both sides came to the conclusion that the impact from the new generation of the leaders will contribute to the sustainable development goals and build the prosperous and bright future. Though the young people cannot make changes now, they can prepare the proposals and the roadmaps of mutual cooperation to the governments. For this stage of the event, the participants discussed broadly the issues and the opportunities of mutual cooperation. As the logical continuity of this event, it was proposed to later revise all the aims, discussed during the dialogue.

For video, please follow the link: https://youtu.be/xqlocZOJe50