Keynote Address Pakistan, BRICS & the Dawning Multipolar World
NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS) organized a keynote address featuring Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on the topic of “Pakistan, BRICS, and the Dawning Multipolar World” at NUST’s main campus. Upon arrival, Lt Gen (Retd) Engr Javed Mahmood Bukhari, Rector NUST, warmly welcomed the distinguished guest. Moderated by Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Director General, NIPS, the event drew the participation of foreign diplomats, veteran and current high-level state officials, senior academics, think tank experts, scholars, and students.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence, asserted during his keynote that the contemporary international system is undergoing pivotal changes, offering unprecedented opportunities for peace, growth, and development in the global South. He highlighted China’s remarkable peaceful development as a significant global benefit and emphasized the positive growth trajectories of nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, shaping a dominant contemporary global trend.
Senator Sayed identified the negative drivers affecting global peace and stability, including the advanced world’s reaction to China’s status as the first non-Western global power of the 21st century, the rise of Hindutva, and the ongoing genocidal Israeli assault against Palestinians. He pointed out that the expansion of BRICS heralds a new era of inclusiveness, participation, and equality among nations, potentially establishing a true rules-based international order benefiting all countries. Emphasizing the need for South Asia to be a region characterized by peace, development, and stability, Senator Sayed urged regional states like India to outgrow the narrow 19th-century mindset of zero-sum hegemony. He commended Pakistan’s consistent efforts to foster constructive relations with Afghanistan, India, and Iran, considering Pakistan’s application for BRICS membership as a positive step.
In his opening remarks, Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan underscored BRICS’ objectives, aiming to promote economic cooperation, sustainable development, inclusive growth, political cooperation, interstate understanding, and mutual respect.
Prominent attendees included Lt Gen Masood Aslam (Retd), Pakistan’s former Ambassador to Mexico; Iftikhar Ullah Babar, former Secretary Senate; Malik Mohmmad Habib Khan, former Caretaker Interior Minister; Ambassador Masood Khalid (Retd), Pakistan’s former Ambassador to China; along with the current ambassadors of Brazil and Ethiopia, and diplomatic representatives of Egypt, Japan, and Russia.