They noted three Muslim countries very important players of the region. Although the US sanctions will badly affect the Iranian economy and it will also affect the other neighbouring countries in the region, it will bring many opportunities for these countries as well. A career foreign service officer, Najmuddin A. Shaikh referred that over 90 percent transactions are done in US dollar and
passed through the United States. "Pakistan, Iran and Turkey had created RCD for regional cooperation and development. In 1991, another forum - ECO was created and the system was expanded from three founders to ten member countries, representing 25 percent of the total Muslim population," he said. However, he also drew attention of the audience to only 7 percent regional trade while the volume in South Asia is much low.
Veteran Shaikh suggested there should be direct links through rail and roads to increase the regional trade among these countries. Dr Seyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour, president of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), Iran, said that after US sanctions, there is a space and opportunity for Turkey, Pakistan and Iran and they should take all benefits of this opportunity.
"Pakistan, Iran and Turkey are very important players of this region and they can play very important role to take all advantages of this opportunity," he emphasised. Suleyman Sensoy, the founder of Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies said that the economic models are changing. He said that Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, having total population of 350 million people are very important with huge potential. He said that the future depends on what we do today and what we are not doing today.
Chairman of CPSD Abdullah Dadabhoy, Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi, Secretary General, Foreign Relations, CPSD, Asif Ali Khan Durrani, former Ambassador to Iran and UAE, Jamil Ahmed Khan, former envoy to Libya, Malta and UAE and others also spoke on the subject.