Islamabad:Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed was specially invited to give Keynote address at BRICS seminar, where he said ‘Pakistan looks forward to joining BRICS’ and welcomed ‘winds of change blowing all across South Asia which reject hegemony, status quo & seek change’, referring to recent radical changes in the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. As a consequence, he said the so-called ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy is now drowning in the waters of the Indian Ocean’.
He criticised the recent US sanctions against Pakistan and China, terming these ‘immoral, unjust, unacceptable and illegal’ as sanctions under International Law can only be imposed by the UN Security Council.
He also condemned ‘Western hypocrisy and double standards on Palestine’. Senator Mushahid Hussain said the Global Order was marked by turbulence and transformation, with two contrasting narratives. China and Global South are focused on connectivity and trade and economic cooperation, conversely, the US is busy with pushing a New Cold War with a militaristic mindset, evident in yesterday’s QUAD meeting hosted by President Biden, where he again showed his China-obsession.
Senator Mushahid Hussain urged the BRICS Seminar to define a new narrative based on emerging ground realities to counter propaganda, fake news and disinformation. For the future, Mushahid put forward a 3-D Strategy for BRICS: Democratisation of the world order based on multipolarity, multilateralism, UN Charter and International Law, Demilitarisation of international relations, rejecting any new military alliances like ‘Asian NATO’, QUAD or AUKUS, Dedollarisation of the world economy and greater trade in non-dollar currencies as dollar was being weaponised. Senator Mushahid Hussain was warmly welcomed by the host, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Envoy of President Putin, as well China’s Minister for International Communication, Wang Gang. Apart from Russia and China, other countries represented at BRICS Seminar included India, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Iran and UAE. Senator Mushahid Hussain was the only representative from a non-BRICS member state.