ISLAMABAD, Dec 03 (APP): Experts and policymakers on Wednesday called for reimagining regional cooperation in South Asia to overcome longstanding political, economic and security challenges, as the 5th edition of Islamabad Conclave opened at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI).
The two-day forum, themed “Reimagining South Asia: Security, Economy, Climate, Connectivity,” began with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar as the chief guest at the inaugural plenary session, said a press release.
Welcoming participants from across the region, Director General ISSI Ambassador Sohail Mahmood expressed appreciation to the Deputy Prime Minister for gracing the event.
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. 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.