Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
H.E. Mr. Babar Amin
Pakistan High Commissioner Babar Amin Address at the Australian War College Canberra
On Friday, 30th April 2021, the Pakistan's
High Commissioner H.E. Mr. Babar Amin was invited to deliver an address to the
2021 Defence and Strategic Course at the Australian War College on Pakistan’s
view on the current regional security issues in the context of Indo Pacific.
Briefing the participants, the High Commissioner Babar Amin stated that
Pakistan prefers the traditional formulation of Asia Pacific which better
reflects the historic and geographical realities of the region. He emphasized
that ASEAN centrality was and should remain at the heart of the Asia Pacific.
He stated that all the countries in the region needed to work together and
should avoid geo-strategic concepts that promoted exclusionary groupings. He
added that Pakistan wanted to preserve and strengthen its bilateral relations
without being identified with any grouping. It would like to work for peace,
progress and prosperity of the broader region.
Speaking on Pakistan’s focus on
geo-economic from geo-strategic outlook, the High Commissioner Babar Amin
stated that the government of Pakistan was focused on socio-economic
development, environmental issues, poverty alleviation and prosperity of people
by enhancing regional connectivity and promoting economic cooperation.
The High Commissioner Mr. Babar Amin also briefed on Afghanistan Peace Process.
He stated that Pakistan had consistently maintained that there was not military
solution to the Afghan conflict. He added that Pakistan supported an Afghan-led
and Afghan owned peace process and hoped that all the stakeholders in
Afghanistan would seize this historic opportunity to reach a negotiated
settlement.
The High Commissioner Babar Amin also apprised the audience
about the human rights violations and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in IIOJK,
since the illegal and unilateral Indian actions of 5 August 2019. He stated
that the human rights violations were well documented by Human Rights
Organizations, including reports by the Office of the High Commissioner of
Human Rights (OHCHR) released in 2018 and 2019. The High Commissioner
emphasized that the international community including Australia had the
responsibility to raise the issue of human rights violations in IIOJK, on
priority putting aside any political and economic expediencies.
An
interactive Q&A session followed the address in which the attendees took
significant interest. The queries of the participants were responded to at
length, citing historical overview, principles of international law and reports
of international human rights organizations.
At the end, the Coordinator Directing Staff thanked the High Commissioner Babar Amin for visiting and sharing Pakistan’s perspective for the benefit of the attendees. The address was attended by 50 participants mainly from Australia, besides including from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, among others.
High Commissioner Babar Amin
