INVC,
Delhi,
The Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) is organizing an international conference on February 15-16 at the Constitution Club here on “India and Muslim World in the 21st Century.”IOS Chairman Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam said here in a statement that the conference would be fostering proximity between India and the Muslim world, which had enjoyed close relations for centuries, but had drifted apart in the 19th century because of colonial intervention. The relations, however, had been on the mend since India’s independence in 1947.“We want to hasten the integration now,” Dr Alam said. He predicted the coming decades would see the end of the present unipolar dispensation and the emergence of a multipolar one. The US, EU, India, Japan, China, the Muslim world, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa would have a role to play in the creation of a new world order.In a world of new geopolitical, economic and strategic realities, NGOs would have a bigger role, he added. Islamic finance and banking’s role, too, would expand in years ahead. A full session at the conference would be devoted to it.The conference would have business sessions on “Islam in India: Historical Context and Cultural Heritage,” “Economic and Financial Relations,” “Islamic Banking and Finance: Global Trends and India”, “Scope for Educational Cooperation”, “International Relations and Diplomatic Issues” and “India and Saudi Arabia.”
Dr Alam said inaugurated by Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan, the two-day conference would among others be graced by former Supreme Court Chief Justice A M Ahmadi, Union Minister of Water Resources Harish Chandra Singh Rawat, Delhi Chief Minister Mrs Sheila Dixit, Vienna-based King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz International Centre for Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Dialogue representative Swami Agnivesh, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Islamic Affairs Endowments Undersecretary Abdul Rahman Ghannam M Al Ghannam, Riyadh-based King Fahad Medical City Senior Faculty of Medicine Prof Omar Hasan Kasule, Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank representative Essam Mohammad Fadil, Massachussetts-based Concord Capital Partners founder Rudy Yakscik, Kuwait-based Centre for Strategic Studies chief Dr Sami Al Faraj, Malaysian scholar Datuk Seri Mohamed Iqbal, Qatar-based Centre of Islamic Legislation and Ethics Dy Director Dr Jasser Auda, Jakarta-based World Muslim Solidarity Forum of Dawah Islamiyah Dr Zahir Khan, Gulf Studies expert Aftab Kamal Pasha, Sikh scholar Dr B S Sandhu, Christian scholar Dr M D Thomas and New Delhi-based Interfaith Foundation representative Dr M M Verma .
