ISLAMABAD: The Indonesian embassy and Bahria University on Tuesday organised the Online Internship Programme (OIP), featuring prominent experts and scholars from Indonesia to share views and explore mutual learning opportunities to boost ties between Jakarta and Islamabad.

In a statement, the embassy said the OIP was inaugurated virtually by Dr Teuku Faizasyah, Indonesian deputy foreign minister for public diplomacy.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest said the OIP applied a two-way learning approach. It provided a platform to analyse Indonesia from various aspects as well as allowed participants to explore the potential for cooperation from the current state of bilateral relations.

“Through this programme, we hope to enrich participant’s knowledge about Indonesia and at the same time hope…[to] stimulate exchanges of views on the topics of discussion among scholars, students and people in general,” added the deputy minister.

Dr Teuku Faizasyah further said that the two countries had many similarities, being the largest Muslim population and having a shared history of colonisation. Today both strove for the economic and social betterment of their citizens, he added.

“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 geopolitics and geo-economic landscape where we face global competition among major powers.”

He said it was important for the two countries to strengthen cooperation to strengthen mutual understanding and people-to-people contact. The envoy hoped that OIP was on the path to achieving this goal and offered selected OIP alumni to participate in the public diplomacy programmes, such as Indonesia-ASEAN cultural scholarship and friends of Indonesia.

Bahria University Director General Rear Admiral Zakaur Rehman, in his welcome remarks, expressed his gratitude to Dr TeukuFaizasyah for his virtual presence at the OIP’s inaugural session.

He commended Ambassador Adam Tugio’s initiative of organising the OIP, which reflected the level of the Indonesian ambassador’s interest in furthering fraternal ties between Indonesia and Pakistan through education. He urged the participants to fully benefit from the Indonesian panellists’ discussion on a diverse range of topics to enhance their understanding of emerging Indonesia’s contemporary dynamics.

Speaking on the occasion, Indonesian Ambassador Adam M Tugio said that the OIP brought a wealth of Indonesian experiences and similarities to share with the participants. Mr Tugio mentioned that in Pakistan, Indonesia was “synonymous with its founding father President Sukarno, palm oil and Bali”.

“Indonesia is 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,” added Adam Tugio.

The statement said that the envoy expressed his pleasure in sharing that Pakistani students were among the highest recipients of scholarships in Indonesia in the last three years.

In a session about ‘Discourse on Islam and Nationalism in Indonesia’, Dr Abdul Gaffar Karim from Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, shared an insightful view on how discourse about Islam and nationalism has continued to resonate in modern Indonesia. He also discussed the ongoing debate on Islam and nationalism in Indonesia.

The Online Internship Programme, which spans over six weeks, would have several dedicated sessions to ensure focused and productive engagement between participants and the speakers on various aspects.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2023