The Pakistan Institute of
International Affairs is celebrating 75 years of its founding in the year 2022,
which coincides with the 75th anniversary of the creation of Pakistan. It is
the oldest think tank in Pakistan and one of the oldest in South Asia. Its
roots go back in time, when the members of the Indian Institute of
International Affairs, which was established in 1936 in Delhi, voted to shift
it to Karachi on the eve of Partition. Khwaja Sarwar Hasan, who was a
barrister, prolific writer and scholar, and was then the head of the Institute,
shifted all its movable assets, including its library books and other
publications to Karachi in August 1947. In this endeavour, he had the blessings
of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
inaugurated the Institute in Karachi, which was then the capital of Pakistan,
on 26 March 1948. Its first office was located in rented premises in the iconic
Frère Hall. It moved to its own historic landmark building on Aiwan-i-Sadar
Road, Karachi, in 1955. The building has since been declared as protected
heritage.
The Institute is an independent,
non-official and not for profit organization, devoted to the scientific study
of international politics, economics and jurisprudence. It has been ranked as a
leading think tank of Pakistan in the Global Go to Think Tank Index of the
University of Pennsylvania, United States, being placed in the top 20 think
tanks in South Asia and the Asia- Pacific region.
The Institute was established by
the most eminent citizens of the country, belonging to diverse professional
backgrounds: Professor A. B. A. Haleem, then Vice Chancellor of Sind
University, who was its first Chairman; Khwaja Sarwar Hasan, its first
Secretary; Jamshed Nusserwanjee, famous philanthropist and mayor of Karachi;
Shaista Ikramullah, Jahanara Shahnawaz, Dr. Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi and Dr.
Mahmud Husain, members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan; Altaf Hussain,
editor of Dawn; Mirza Mohammed Rafi, Yusuf Haroon and D. M. Malik hailing from
the business community; Shahid Suhrawardy, member Pakistan Public Service
Commission; Mumtaz Hasan and M. Ayub from the Ministry of Economic Affairs;
Agha Shahi and A. Rashid Ibrahim belonging to the Civil Service; Hemandas
Wadhwani, Adviser to the Sind Government and Mian Bashir Ahmad, an engineer by
profession. Today we honour their memory and pay a tribute to their wisdom and
foresight.
Since it was established, the
Institute has been the vibrant hub of academic excellence in the country. It
has held a stream of conferences, seminars and webinars, bringing together in
discussion scholars, diplomats, members of teaching faculties, journalists, the
business community and the public. Its members have been addressed by famous
statesmen and jurists from all over the world. While maintaining institutional
neutrality, it has given space for the expression of a range of opinions and
thoughts. Its platform has been used by Pakistan's heads of state and
government to make formal statements on the foreign policy of the country.
The purpose of the activities of
the Institute has been not only to disseminate and transfer knowledge and
research, but also to act as a bridge between policy makers and the public. For
the last 75 years it has provided an independent platform for informed debate
and discussion on issues of global and regional concern and Pakistan's foreign
policy. It has offered an academic shelter to thousands of scholars and persons
from all walks of life in Pakistan and abroad who have passed through its
portals, done research in its library, and benefited from its resources.
Research on security and
strategic issues and international relations, South Asia and the foreign policy
of Pakistan, has been the bedrock of the Institute's academic activities. Since
1948, it has published without a break its flagship peer-reviewed quarterly,
Pakistan Horizon, which is, perhaps, the oldest journal in South Asia on
international relations. Pakistan Horizon is subscribed by universities and
other institutions globally. It is listed on JSTOR which is the largest archive
of scholarly journals in the world. It is also listed in the databases of the
Library of Congress Washington and the British Library London. The Institute
has an active social media presence and maintains blog pages.
The Pakistan Institute of
International Affairs has the finest specialized library on international
relations and diplomacy in the country. Its holdings comprise 38,000 books,
including rare publications of the pre-Partition era, and it subscribes to 100
local and foreign journals. Furthermore, since 1955, it has maintained a unique
clippings service to facilitate scholars and researchers in their work.
To celebrate 75 years of its founding, the Institute is convening a Conference on 'Pakistan and the Changing Global Order' on 14 and 15 December 2022. The theme of the Conference represents the changing geopolitical scenario over the last 75 years. The first day will be devoted to global concerns, the second to Pakistan's foreign policy issues. The Conference will bring together statesmen, scholars, diplomats and practitioners of foreign policy. To mark 75 years of the universally recognized outstanding performance and achievements of The Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, Pakistan Post is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs.20 denomination on 14th November, 2022
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