ISLAMABAD ( WNAM REPORT ): Further strengthening its national collaborations, the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Riphah International University (RIU), Islamabad. The MoU was signed by Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Director General, ISSI, and Professor Dr. Anis Ahmad, Vice Chancellor Riphah University in a ceremony held at ISSI. The ceremony was attended by Professor Dr. Rashid Aftab, Director Riphah Institute of Public Policy, and Dr. Neelum Nigar, Director Centre for Strategic Perspective (CSP) at ISSI, among others.
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, in his remarks on the occasion, lauded the inspiring academic journey of Riphah University under the visionary leadership of Professor Dr. Anis Ahmad. He emphasized that sharing the same vision on domestic, regional, and international issues, both Institutions had huge potential to join hands in research and human resource development sectors. In contemporary times, the academic practices and policy formulation processes must compliment each other in order to adopt holistic approaches in the light of informed analyses. Youth, being the torch-bearers of Pakistan’s future, must be meaningfully engaged in the discourse on the present-day challenges at domestic and international level, and apprised of how Pakistan is carving out opportunities out of these challenges. DG ISSI hoped that, in this endeavor, the ISSI-RIU collaboration will play instrumental role in engaging the youth of Pakistan. He specifically mentioned areas such as public policy, climate change, water security, evolving situation in South Asia, the role of ‘Hindutva’ ideology in shaping regional environment, global Islamophobia, and a range of non-traditional security challenges, to be in focus in this collaboration.
Professor Dr. Anis Ahmad stressed that the two Institutions can collaborate on a number of national and international projects in the areas of research, training, dialogue, and publication. He emphasized that to adopt a homogenous approach for Pakistan’s development and policy formulation, it was essential to ‘decolonize’ academic thought and practices as a priority. The country’s academic and policy-practicing circles must adopt strategic, long-term thinking approaches in order to formulate lasting responses to the emerging challenges. Commending the MoU signing between ISSI and RIU, Dr. Anis Ahmad underlined key areas of potential collaboration on national, regional, and global arenas.
The MoU marks ISSI’s commitment to engage leading national institutions as well as the youth under the umbrella of its NextGen program, and form a bridge to students, faculty, and policy practitioners through dialogue, joint research, human resource development, and academic exchanges.
