History
The post-Partition establishment of the Pakistan Institute of International
Affairs (PIIA) was part of an international movement. In the 19th and
20th century, human concern for peace resulted in the setting up of
institutes and councils of world affairs in many countries of the world.
Thus in the twenties and thirties, a family of international institutes
grew up in the British Commonwealth, which were either affiliated with
the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), London, or were
members of the Institute of Pacific Relations New York, or both. The
Indian Institute of International Affairs (IIIA) was formed in 1936,
but was dissolved after the Partition of India in 1947. However, the
library of the IIIA was shifted to Karachi. The members of IIIA in Pakistan,
redesignated the institute and formed the nucleus of the new Pakistan
Institute of International Affairs. The PIIA was founded in Karachi
in August 1947 in affiliation with the RIIA, and the Institute of Pacific
Relations. The formal inauguration by the Prime Minister of Pakistan,
Liaquat Ali Khan took place on 26 March 1948. The draft memorandum of
the PIIA was considered and approved on 28 September 1948. Housed first
in the Intelligence School on Queen's Road, the PIIA later moved to
Frere Hall and thence, in 1955 (when the Institute's building was completed),
to its present location on Aiwan-e-Sadar Road.
Aims and Objectives
The Institute, as stated in its Memorandum of Association and by-laws,
is a non-official, non-partisan, and non-profit making body. Its objectives
are to encourage and facilitate the understanding of international affairs,
and to promote the scientific study of international politics, economics
and jurisprudence.
Organization
The PIIA is an autonomous organization, the control of which had been
taken over by the Government of Pakistan through the President Ordinance
7 of 1980, by the Chief Martial Law Administrator, President General
Zia-ul-Haq. Some members of the Institute challenged the ‘takeover’.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan finally declared the ‘takeover’
and the control of the PIIA by the Government, ultra vires of the Constitution
and restored its original independent position.
Management and Staff
The Chairman is the principal executive authority of the PIIA. The Secretary
is incharge of the general working of the Institute. The Research Section
of the PIIA is staffed by Director Research and Research Officers who
carry out research work. A Librarian with staff manages the Institute's
library.
Members
There are several categories of members of the PIIA:
Life Members, Ordinary Members, Associate Members, Guest Members and
Honorary Members. At present there are about 500 members, representing
a cross-section of opinion in the country, most of them being drawn
from professional, intellectual and business sections of the country.
Finances
The PIIA receives a grant-in-aid from the Government of Pakistan on
the same terms as other societies in the country. The Institute's other
sources of income are private donations, membership subscription, sales
from publications, and rent from tenants who occupy a portion of the
PIIA building.
Working of the PIIA and its utility
Research
The Institute is engaged in carrying out a constant research and information
programme on international affairs, particularly on those that primarily
affect Pakistan, in an impartial, scientific and scholarly manner. It
has a regular publishing programme geared to its research activities.
Research work at the Institute is published either in book form or in
Pakistan Horizon, the scholarly journal of
the Institute. This Journal was started in 1948 and has been published
since then without interruption. From about 70 pages in 1948, its has
increased to its present size of 200 pages or more. It has a wide circulation
abroad and in the country. It contains articles, speeches, notes, book
reviews, chronology of world events and documents. The following thematic
issues of Pakistan Horizon deserve special
mention: 1. India-Pakistan War 1965, 2. India-Pakistan Arms Race 3.
Iran 4. Middle East War 1967 5. East Pakistan Crisis 6. India-Pakistan
War 1971 7. Simla Accord 8. The Great Powers and Asia 9. International
Economic Issues and Pakistan 10. The Middle East 1975 11. Focus on Asia
12. Pakistan Foreign Policy 13. The Inter-Relations of Muslim States
and Pakistan
14. Kashmir 15. Pakistan-India Relations 16. Post-9/11 Afghanistan.
Earlier publications of the Institute were monographs dealing with Pakistan
or areas of its immediate concern, for example, Pakistan and the Commonwealth,
The Kashmir Question, Pakistan's Foreign Relations, etc. Later on, books
were published such as Pakistan and the United Nations; a series
of Documents on Foreign Relations of Pakistan; Historical Background
of Pakistan: A Digest of Source Material, etc. Other books
are also under preparation. Besides research work, the Research Staff
of the Institute entertain research enquiries, provide research guidance,
and supply, upon request, research information to scholars both in the
country and abroad.
The work produced by the PIIA is of internationally acknowledged quality
and its publications come up to international standards. Pakistan
Horizon and other material published by the Institute has been
microfilmed, mimeographed and reproduced in abstracts by agencies and
organizations (on their request) such as the US State Department, The
West Point Academy, Microfilm Makers Xerox of Michigan, International
Political Science Abstracts, Paris, and several others. Articles, chronologies
and documents, published in Pakistan Horizon and other
publications of the PIIA have been listed, reviewed or cited in numerous
journals, lists, books and newspapers published abroad as well as in
Pakistan. To mention only a few, are the following:
Monthly list of selected articles, UN Library Geneva;
ABC POL SCI: Advanced Bibliography of Contents Political Science and
Government, Santa Barbara, California; Bulletin Analytique de Documentation
Economique et Social, Paris; Historical Abstracts, Santa Barbara, California;
Pakistan Year Book, National Publishing House, Karachi; International
Affairs, London; Orbis, Philadelphia; Australian Outlook, Canberra;
India Quarterly, New Delhi; American Journal of International Law, Washington;
Orient, Hamburg; The Nation, Lahore; The News and Dawn, Karachi; The
Frontier Post, Peshawar; etc.
Lectures
The Institute arranges lectures, symposia and group discussions. At
these, speakers of high standing, statesmen and experts on international
relations and related subjects are invited. Speakers at these meetings
have included such world renowned intellectuals as Prof. Arnold Toynbee,
Prof. Arnde Siegfired, Prof. Dr. Y.V. Gangovsky, Mr. Justice Potter
Stewart of the American Supreme Court and Mr. Justice Philip C. Jessup
of the World Court; statesmen such as Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandranaike
of Sri Lanka, Lord Attlee, Henry Kissinger and Ralph Bunche; and national
leaders such as Habib Bourguida, Richard Nixon, Dr. Sjahrir of Indonesia,
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, President Ayub Khan, Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, President General Zia-ul-Haq, Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and President
General Pervez Musharraf.
Library
The Library is the focal point of PIIA activities, especially those
related with international affairs. The Library remains open from 8:30
a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on week days and is fully made use of by University
and College teachers and students, foreign visiting scholars, journalists,
TV and Radio commentators, research scholars from Sindh, Punjab and
other provinces, visiting Pakistani and foreign students studying at
foreign universities, government officials, members of the armed forces,
etc. The Library has a fine up-to-date collection of books on international
affairs (perhaps the best in Pakistan on the subject). From a collection
of 3615 books in 1947 (Pakistan's share of the divided holdings of the
IIIA), the number of books in the Library has now risen to over 35,000.
It receives about 160 journals from Pakistan and from all over the world
and maintains files of many of them. It maintains a newspaper clipping
section of leading newspapers arranged under geographical and subject
headings, The Library has a modest but growing microfilm collection,
and a collection of rare books, documents and newspapers. The Library
Staff deals with research enquiries every day and provides information
to those seeking it.
On International Level
The PIIA has proved its usefulness on the international level:
1. By presenting Pakistan’s viewpoint on current affairs to those
abroad, by publishing studies on different aspects of Pakistan’s
foreign policy and relations.
2. By giving a fairly detailed account of what is happening in Pakistan
and its foreign relations in the Chronology section of Pakistan Horizon.
3. By providing texts of documents systematically arranged for the use
of foreign scholars and government departments.
4. By providing research information to scholars abroad who ask for
it and foreign scholars who visit the PIIA and its Library.
5. By giving permission for Pakistan Horizon to be microfilmed, xeroxed
and cyclostyled by foreign organizations, so that the Pakistani viewpoint
can be projected to a large number of people.
6. By reviewing important books.
7. By allowing Pakistan Horizon and other PIIA publications to enter
book exhibitions abroad so as to inform and educate the foreigners about
Pakistan, its foreign policy and relations.
8. By arranging lecture, symposium and group discussion programmes for
visiting scholars, and thus promoting the exchange of views between
them and Pakistani scholars.
On National Level
The PIIA has proved its usefulness on the national level:
1. By providing a Library which is made use of by teachers, scholars,
students, journalists, specialists in international affairs, government
officials, members of the armed forces and those preparing for examinations
for the Central Services.
2. Library and Research Staff deal with research enquiries, help those
requiring assistance, e.g., Ph.D., and research students from Pakistan
as well as those from foreign universities studying in Pakistan.
3. Institute’s publications provide information on current affairs
and promote the study of international affairs in the country.
4. By permitting producers of TV and Radio programmes on current affairs
to use the Library and make photostat copies of documents and maps.
5. By providing research facilities and other information to those government
officials and others going abroad to attend international conferences
or on lecture tours.
6. By searching for talented writers on international affairs, helping
them in their research work, publishing their work, and thus helping
in the formation of a brain trust in the country.
7. By reviewing in Pakistan Horizon important books published in Pakistan
and abroad, and thus introducing them to readers.
8. By preparing studies and providing information to the Government
and other national organizations.
9. The Researchers of the Institute participate in lectures, symposia,
group discussions, TV and Radio programmes and thus promote interest
in and the study of international relations in the country.