MOSCOW: Pakistan-China Institute (PCI), headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed was invited to give the keynote address at the BRICS Seminar in Moscow on Monday.

He said, “Pakistan looks forward to joining BRICS,” and welcomed “winds of change blowing all across South Asia which reject hegemony, status quo and 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 them ‘immoral, unjust, unacceptable and illegal’ as sanctions under International Law can only be imposed by the UN Security Council.

Senator Mushahid also condemned Western hypocrisy and double standards on Palestine. He said the Global Order was marked by turbulence and transformation, with two contrasting narratives.

He added that China and the Global South are focused on connectivity and trade and economic cooperation, conversely, the US is busy pushing a New Cold War with a militaristic mindset, evident in Sunday’s QUAD meeting hosted by President Joe Biden, where he again showed his China obsession.

Senator Mushahid urged the attendants to define a new narrative based on emerging ground realities to counter propaganda, fake news and disinformation.

For the future, he 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; and, dedollarisation of the world economy and greater trade in non-dollar currencies.

Senator Mushahid was warmly welcomed by the host, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Envoy of President Putin, as well as China’s Minister for International Communication, Wang Gang.

Apart from Russia and China, other countries represented at the BRICS Seminar included India, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Iran and UAE. Senator Mushahid was the only representative from a non-BRICS member state.

@PT