At the invitation of Mr. Süleyman ?ensoy, Chairman, Think Tank Forum of the Islamic Countries (TASAM) and Senator Mushahid Hussain, Chairman, Defence Committee of the Senate of Pakistan, Dr. Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, attended the 6th Think Tanks Forum of the Islamic Countries on Building Multi-Dimensional Security in the Islamic Countries in Islamabad on 07 March 2015.

Dr. Mousavi, in his speech at the inaugural session, underscored the need to recognize development as the prerequisite for peace and by the same token, peace as the prerequisite for development. He mentioned that security with all the dimensions required collective actions. 

The D-8 Secretary-General outlined current developments taking place within the D-8 Organization and also gave a background of the D-8 and highlighted the role and engagement of the Organization as a prominent inter-governmental entity for economic development as envisaged by its leaders. He said that D-8 provided a good platform for promoting South-South Cooperation. He mentioned that D-8 had marked significant progress over the period of 16 years since its establishment in the areas such as industry, trade, transportation, agriculture, technology etc. and thus had contributed to the economic uplift of the people of the region. He further mentioned that contributing to economic freedom of the peoples of the region marked with secure society and less vulnerability. 

Dr. Mousavi said that the theme of this conference reflected multi-faceted nature of security. Size of population, economic potential, geographical orientation, composition of human resources, huge skilled and unskilled labour etc. of the D-8 Member States make this group unique within the Islamic world. The Organization is working to tap the potential and realise the same into strengths so that the benefits are accrued into the public domain. He emphasized that a sustainable change in the life of millions of people who lack basic amenities would not only ensure growth within national frontier, but also would assure the world of a safer place. With the strength of partnership and universal brotherhood, the Organization hopes to achieve its aim.

Photos of this event can be viewed from the following link:

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/developing8/sets/72157651245421391/]