Pakistan's Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has underscored the importance of civilizational exchange and media collaboration in fostering global peace and mutual understanding, while attending the Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in Beijing.
Tarar said that civilizational exchanges can promote peace and development, noting that the Global Civilization Initiative, launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, can bring countries closer to create a better world.
"I think the goal of common humanity is peace and development in all regions. I think we can learn from each other's civilizations, from each other's experiences -- how we can make the world a better and safer place. I think that's something we can achieve. And I would really like to pay my compliments to His Excellency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his vision that he started the Global Civilization Initiative. It's a great initiative. It will not only bring countries closer together, but [also] based upon mutual learning and mutual understanding, we will be able to make the world a better place," said Tarar.
Tarar also highlighted strong media ties between Pakistan and China and proposed expanding cooperation through exchanges between social media influencers to deepen cultural appreciation and people-to-people connections.
"In fact, there are a lot of agreement between CGTN and Pakistan television PTV. We have a lot of agreements between Chinese Media Group and the Ministry of Information, between NRTA and the Ministry of Information. In fact, my state television PTV, it runs the Chinese bulletin, known as China Express every day, almost four days a week. I think we can collaborate further in the field of media and conduct an exchange of digital media influencers from both countries. And I have invited Chinese social media influencers to Pakistan to come and see our culture, our cuisine, and the way we hold the Chinese people in high esteem. And you see, with regard to our civilization, Pakistan is a land of the Indus Valley Civilization. We are the people based on the banks and tributes of the mighty river Indus. And Indus, it actually originated from China, which is a source of pride for us," said Tarar.
The minister also stressed the strategic role of media in shaping global narratives, and expressed the hope for future collaborations between Chinese and Pakistani media.
"You see, media collaboration is most important, because optics really matters and how you put out our narrative. And even you see, we just came out of a conflict, the India-Pakistan conflict. And as the Information Minister, the narrative war was the first war that we fought. And we got through that war, and that narrative war was won. So you see our optics really matter, and we need to bring the people closer together based on our common narratives, the global narratives. So media really plays a very, very significant role. Chinese media has really helped Pakistan. We look forward to future collaborations. We had Pakistani films displayed at the SCO -- the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Film Festival, two or our films actually won a competition, so I think the future is bright with regard to media collaborations," said Tarar.
The Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting convened in Beijing on Thursday, with focus on the importance of cultural diversity and mutual learning in advancing human progress. Themed "Safeguarding Diversity of Human Civilizations for World Peace and Development," the two-day event drew over 600 guests from 140 countries and regions.
Pakistan's information minister highlights role of civilization ties, media, in common humanity
