On Saturday, May 11th, Pakistan hosted its second consecutive general election for the first time in its history. It marked the first successful democratic transition between two elected governments.
On May 10, Gateway House, together with the Press Club of Mumbai, hosted Ambassador Neelam Deo, Director, Gateway House; Ambassador Rajendra Abhyankar, Chairman, Kunzru Centre for Defence Studies and Research; Kumar Ketkar, Chief Editor, Dainik Divya Marathi; and Jatin Desai, Senior Journalist and Joint Secretary of Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace & Democracy, in a briefing for journalists and editors on what to expect in the run-up to the election.
Ambassador Neelam Deo is Director of Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations and former Ambassador to Denmark and former Joint Secretary for Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. She is also a Distinguished Fellow with the Centre for Air Power Studies, and sits on the board of Breakthrough (a human rights organization), Oxfam India and Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund.
Rajendra Abhyankar is Chairman, Kunzru Centre for Defence Studies and Research, Pune. Prior to this, he was the Indian Secretary of External Affairs from 2001-2004, before which he served as the Indian Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxemburg, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, and Cyprus.
Kumar Ketkar is the Editor-in-Chief of Dainik Divya Marathi of the Dainik Bhaskar Group of Newspapers. Prior to this, he has been the Editor for leading dailies such as Loksatta, Maharashtra Times and the Lokmat Group of Newspapers. He is a recipient of the Padma Shree Award, C.D. Deshmukh Award for Excellence in Economic/Financial writing, Giants International Award for International coverage, and the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Media.
Jatin Desai is a senior journalist with an experience spanning three decades. He primarily writes on issues related to South Asia; and India-Pakistan relations in particular. He also regularly features on various Marathi television channels to speak on current socio-political scenario, media issues and international relations. Jatin is also a bureau member of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) and the National Joint Secretary of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD). He has also been instrumental in getting several Indian and Pakistani fishermen released from each other’s prisons.