By Adnan Rafique
ISLAMABAD: An International Online Internship Programme (OIP), featuring prominent experts and scholars from Indonesia to showcase a ‘modern Indonesia’, share views and explore mutual learning opportunities for further development of bilateral ties, got underway here at the Bahria University on Tuesday.
The OIP, being organized in collaboration with the Indonesian Embassy, was inaugurated virtually by Dr Teuku Faizasyah, Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister for Public Diplomacy.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Teuku Faizasyah said,” The OIP applies a two-way learning approach, firstly it provides a platform to analyze Indonesia from various aspects and secondly, it allows participants to explore potential for cooperation from the current state of bilateral relations.”
Through the programme, he said, “we hope to enrich the participants’ knowledge about Indonesia and at the same time we hope that it will also stimulate exchanges of views on the topics of discussion among scholars, students and people in general”. Dr Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia and Pakistan had many similarities being the largest Muslim population and shared history of colonization, and today both strived for economic and social betterment of their citizens respectively.
“Let us not forget that in 1959 Indonesia and Pakistan together with Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India initiated the Asian African Conference to advocate the values of solidarity friendship and cooperation. These values remain relevant in the context of today’s geo-politic and geo-economic landscape where we face global competition among major powers. “It is, therefore, important for two countries to strengthen our cooperation amidst these challenges and continue to invest in efforts to strengthen mutual understanding and people-to-people between our two countries,” he stressed.
The minister expressed the hope that the OIP would be one of the paths to achieve the goal and offered selected OIP alumni to participate in the public diplomacy programmes such as Indonesia-ASEAN cultural scholarship and friends of Indonesia. Director General Bahria University, Islamabad, Rear Admiral Zakaur Rehman, in his welcome remarks, expressed his gratitude to chief guest Dr Teuku Faizasyah for his virtual presence at the OIP’s inaugural session.
He commended Ambassador Tugio’s initiative of organizing the OIP which reflected his interest in furthering the fraternal ties between Indonesia and Pakistan through education. He urged the participants to fully benefit from the Indonesian panelists’ discussion on a diverse range of topics to enhance their understanding of emerging Indonesia’s contemporary dynamics.
Indonesian Ambassador Adam M Tugio, in his remarks, said,” The OIP brings a wealth of Indonesian experiences and similarities to share with the participants.” He said besides the religious and cultural similarities, the OIP would also highlight Indonesia’s great struggle to overcome the successive and multiple enormous challenges, including political and economic crises.
Ambassador Tugio mentioned that in Pakistan Indonesia was synonymous to its founding father President Sukarno, Palm Oil and Bali. “Indonesia was much more than that because it is also a third largest democracy, a global emerging economy of inclusive growth and a pluralistic society with the largest Muslim population in the world.”
The envoy expressed his pleasure that the Pakistani students were among the highest recipients of scholarships in Indonesia in the last three years and added the OIP would hopefully attract more students from Pakistan to study modern Indonesia and in Indonesia as well.
At the session-I, Dr. Abdul Gaffar Karim from Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, on the topic of “Discourse on Islam and Nationalism in Indonesia” gave an insightful view on how discourse about Islam and nationalism has continued to resonate in modern Indonesia. He discussed the ongoing debate on Islam and nationalism in Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim population.
“Despite not being an Islamic state, Indonesia’s 1945 constitution and Pancasila ideology ensure freedom of religion for all faith believers”, added Dr. Gaffar Karim. Underscoring Indonesia’s diversity and pluralism, he further said that balance between Islam and nationalism remained a subject of constant debate.
The Online Internship Programme, which spans over six weeks, will have several dedicated sessions to ensure focused and productive engagement between the participants and the speakers on various aspects of Indonesia who join online from Indonesia. Session 2 will be held on Thursday (20/08) focusing Indonesia’s journey to democracy.
