Basic structure of Pak-Arab Federation to be ready in two weeks — PM aide

This file photo shows Pakistani PM’s special adviser on religious harmony and the Middle East, Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi (left from center), meets Ambassador of Iraq, Hamid Abbas Lafta (right from center), in Islamabad, Pakistan, on January 14, 2021. (Photo courtesy: @TahirAshrafi/Twitter)

• Federation will function as a non-government body comprising representatives of Pakistan and all major Arab nations
• Will promote people-to-people contact, help connect with more than five million Pakistanis living in Arab countries, Tahir Ashrafi says

Islamabad: The basic structure of the Pakistan-Arab Federation — a non-government body aimed at improving Pakistan’s relations with Islamic countries, enhancing people-to-people contact and promoting cooperation in various fields — would be ready within two weeks, the Pakistani prime minister’s special adviser on religious harmony and the Middle East, Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, said on Thursday.
Last month, Ashrafi said Pakistan had started work on setting up the “autonomous, non-government” Pakistan-Arab Federation in pursuance of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s policy to improve economic and strategic ties with Arab countries. In October last year, the government founded a specialized research center on the Middle East at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad.
“This initiative will be at the non-governmental level to improve ties with Arab Islamic countries at the public level,” Ashrafi told Arab News. “The purpose of this is to strengthen people-to-people contact between Pakistan and Arab countries. We want businessmen, religious scholars and intellectuals to meet with each other at different levels and play their role in improving ties.” 
Ashrafi said the Pakistani government had discussed the idea of the federation with Arab diplomats in Pakistan as well as prominent figures in Arab countries: “Their response to this initiative is quite encouraging.” 
He added: “Pak-Arab Federation will help strengthen economic, cultural and tourism-related cooperation.” 
In an interview last month, Ashrafi said the forum would be an “autonomous non-governmental federation comprising businessmen, chambers of commerce, religious scholars, intellectuals, academicians, journalists and other professional bodies.”
The federation would also serve as an advisory body for the Pakistani government to help it boost Pakistan’s image in Arab countries, Ashrafi had said.
“This federation will also work as a crisis management forum to remove misconception which can hamper bilateral relations of Pakistan with any of the Arab countries,” he said, adding that it would act as a “back-channel diplomacy forum” to help to quickly resolve important issues through people-to-people contact.
The federation will also help Pakistan connect with the more than five million Pakistanis living in Arab countries, Ashrafi said, and “will work to facilitate our Arab brothers to improve their people-to-people contact with Pakistan.”