President Asif Ali Zardari will be the chief guest and inaugurate the world conference on Sufism for Peace in the month of March this year, the Chairman Pakistan Academy of Letters Fakhar Zaman said here in an interview.
"We have already sent invitations for the Islamabad conference and hoped that like previous conference held in 1995, this time too the largest delegation will come from our brother country China," Zaman who was leading a delegation of prominent writers and scholars at the invitation of Chinese Writer's Association told APP on Friday.
He said that we expect over twenty delegates from China in this international conference. The Pakistan Embassy Club and Pakistan Embassy College hosted a reception for delegation on Thursday evening on the penultimate day of the conclusion of their visit during which they also travelled to Xian, Hangzhou, and Shanghai beside Beijing.
Highlighting the importance of the 3-day Sufism for Peace conference to be held on March 14, Fakhar Zaman said that to curb the menace of extremism there is dire need to influence society by highlighting importance of mysticism that preaches the message of love and peace.
He said that the conference is in continuity of the 1995 international conference that was inaugurated by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. At that time he said delegates of over 400 writers and poets from 110 countries attended and the largest group was from China. This time, he said we hope again the largest representation would be from China.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will be the chief guest on the concluding session of the conference, he further said. Terming his visit as highly successful, Fakhar Zaman said that we have extremely good interaction with the prominent Chinese writers, poets and men of letters.
Zaman said like development in economic and other areas, he also witnessed transformation in Chinese literature and expressed the need for frequent exchange of delegations from both sides to help understand the new trend in literature. Besides, writers, poet and scholar, Zaman also called for exchange of delegation comprising translators and said that his country is ready to help in publishing books in Chinese language. He said that he takes keen interest in studying the Chinese literature.
Earlier, speakers at the reception including Pakistan's Ambassador to China Masood Khan, senior Chinese scholars, poets and professors highlighted the importance of Pakistan, China friendship. On the occasion Chinese youths studying Urdu language in various universities recited poetry and Ghazals of prominent Pakistani poets including Faiz Ahmed Faiz and got applause from the participants. The delegation is scheduled to leave for Pakistan on Friday evening.