Islamabad 3 December 2025(Nosheen): The 5th edition of the Institute of Strategic Studies’ annual dialogue forum, Islamabad Conclave, with thematic focus on “Reimagining South Asia Security, Economy, Climate, Connectivity,” got under way today. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, was the chief guest at the Inaugural Session.
In his remarks, Director General ISSI Ambassador Sohail Mahmood warmly welcomed speakers and participants from across South Asia and expressed deep appreciation to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar for gracing the occasion. He pointed out that this year’s theme, “Re-imagining South Asia,” drew inspiration from his address at the ISSI Foundation Day in June 2025. He highlighted ISSI’s position as a premier think-tank dedicated to informed research and policy advocacy on foreign policy as well as regional and global issues. He underscored the Institute’s research achievements in 2025, five edited volumes, two special reports, and the sixth book on Operation Buyanum Marsoos that was being presented.
On the Conclave’s theme, Ambassador Sohail Mahmood stressed that South Asia, despite its demographic weight and immense potential, remains constrained by political fragmentation, weak regional architecture, unresolved disputes, transnational terrorism, and climate vulnerabilities, all unfolding amid a global shift toward contested multipolarity. Yet, he emphasized that these challenges were not immutable, noting opportunities such as more confident regional actors, dynamic youth populations, and supportive international partners. Unlocking the region’s potential, he said, required moving from confrontation to cooperation, from zero-sum thinking to win-win approaches. It required, he underscored, going beyond traditional conceptions of security, respecting each other’s sovereignty, building mutual trust, creating new economic synergies, promoting hard and soft connectivity, and re-thinking regional cooperation architecture. He concluded that the regional countries had the agency to ‘re-imagine’ South Asia and reshape its reality.
In his inaugural address, DPM/FM Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar underscored the urgent need to re-imagine cooperation in South Asia, commending ISSI for choosing a theme that is both pertinent and timely at a moment when the global environment remained in profound flux, marked by multiple conflicts, including the ongoing Israeli genocidal onslaught against the Palestinian people. Reflecting on the regional landscape, he noted that the recent 92-hour crisis between India and Pakistan was a stark reminder of how quickly tensions could escalate. He stressed that multilateralism was under assault globally, while the rise of extremist ideologies, populism, and Islamophobia was causing unprecedented political and societal upheaval. DPM/FM Dar affirmed Pakistan’s principled opposition to bloc politics and reiterated the country’s steadfast belief in dialogue as indispensable for peaceful coexistence. He highlighted that, as an elected member of the UN Security Council, Pakistan was actively contributing to collective efforts for international peace and security.
Turning to South Asia, he observed that the region, home to over 25 percent of the world’s population, faced a multitude of challenges, including the impacts of climate change, extreme weather events, food insecurity, and heavy dependence on imported oil, all compounded by weak economic integration. He emphasized the need for regional cooperation in water management and the critical role of climate smart farming for strengthening resilience across South Asia. On the security front, he described South Asia as a complex region where three nuclear powers coexisted amid unresolved interstate disputes, conventional and nuclear arms build ups, trust deficits, and the burden of history. He reiterated that the longstanding Jammu and Kashmir dispute, rooted in forcible and illegal occupation, continued to threaten regional peace. Recalling the India-Pakistan crisis of May 2025, he warned that the region had once again come perilously close to uncontrolled escalation, noting that the notion of any single “net security provider” in the region stood “buried”.
DPM/FM Dar underlined that a just and lasting solution to Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with the aspirations of its people, remained essential for sustainable peace. He urged South Asian nations to reflect deeply on whether the region is destined to lag behind while others progress, emphasizing that the region’s challenges could not be overcome without abandoning zero-sum mindsets, embracing peaceful coexistence, and building an architecture of cooperative regionalism. He expressed hope that South Asia would eventually achieve peace with dignity for its peoples.
The inaugural session concluded with Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman ISSI’s Board of Governors, presenting a memento to Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar. He was also presented ISSI’s latest book “Operation Bunyanum Marsoos: Deterrence, Doctrinal Shifts, and Strategic Stability in South Asia.” The two-day Islamabad Conclave, a Track 1.5 forum, is being attended by practitioners, scholars, academics, experts, and university students. It features national and international experts, interactive discussions, expert analyses, and policy recommendations on the security, economy, climate, connectivity challenges and opportunities in the rapidly changing 21st-century global order.