Scholars, intellectuals and former diplomats of international repute has urged Japan and Pakistan to promote Japan-related research collaboration through increase in exchange of scholars and research materials.
They further asked Japan to enhance co-operation in the field of education through an increase in grants of scholarships and through the establishment of chair studies at universities and other seats of high learning. The scholars emphasised for encouragement more people to people contact through visa relaxation and increased cultural exchanges.
They were speaking in a one-day international seminar organised by Area Study Centre Far East and South East Asia University of Sindh on Tuesday on Prospective of Pakistan-Japan Relations: Security, Political and Economic Affairs.
A large number of former diplomats, scholars, intellectuals, professors and students of international relations and political science attended the seminar. The seminar was presided over by vice chancellor Isra University Hyderabad while former ambassador to Japan Najamul Saqib was keynote speaker and chief guest. The scholars from different Pakistan and Japan universities presented their papers and highlighted relations between Pakistan and Japan.
The chief guest Najamul Saqib in his keynote speech said that Pakistan and Japan are committed to a strategy centring around global peace and prosperity built on peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with justice and international law, the respect for fundamental human rights the alleviation of poverty, fair and expended trade among nation and the progressive reduction in armaments.
The two countries, Saqib said, are concerting their efforts within the multilateral framework of the United Nations, to achieve new millennium goals. He said that gains of earlier international trade agreements have been largely reaped by the highly industrialised countries, leaving the developing countries sidelined.
Dr Asadullah Kazi in his presidential remarks said that Pakistan and Japan established diplomatic relations, some 55 years ago nearly 5 years after the creation of Pakistan and added that ever since then we have enhanced and developed a robust relationship between each other.
He said that Japan is one of the largest bilateral donors and a major trade partner of Pakistan. Dr Takako Hirose scholar from Senshu University, Tokyo expressing her views on Pakistan in Japan's Foreign Policy analysed Japan's policy towards Pakistan. She highlighted a broad guideline of Japanese foreign policy in general and Asia policy in particular.
She said that throughout its post war history, Japan has always taken a pro-US policy, but it does not mean that there has never been opposition to it. She said that lack of its vital interest and the relatively low level of the war time memory kept Japan out of this region. She said that south Asia was long neglected by Japanese policy-makers, bureaucrats and the mass media. She said that situation gradually changed in the 1990's, though Japan was one of the last countries to realise the importance of the region.
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