An undated photo shows Zafar Uddin Mahmood, policy advisor to the secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

President Xi Jinping’s newly proposed Global Civilization Initiative seeks to build a global consensus to help resolve conflicts and this in turn can usher in peace and accelerate economic development, Zafar Uddin Mahmood, policy advisor to the secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia, told China Daily.

The GCI is consistent with and intrinsically linked to the two initiatives proposed earlier, the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, he noted.

The policy advisor said Xi’s GCI, which is very timely, will address the issue of various countries’ dealing with each other in a humbler way, wherein we can listen to others’ point of view.

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“I think it’s very important that people should have the tolerance to listen to each other’s point of view and then reach a consensus, and even if the consensus is not reached, people should agree to disagree in a civilized way,” Mahmood, who is also former special envoy for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan, said in an interview.

If there is so much disbalance in the development levels of different countries, it creates frictions. So, it’s important that we should have a GDI wherein we can contribute to other people's issues, and also can help them in the journey towards development and progress.

Zafar Uddin Mahmood, Policy advisor to the secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia

In the recent past conflicts have become more frequent and people are expressing very strong views. 

“As a result of that, a kind of a polarization in the (global) society has been created,” he noted. “People are very firm about their views, and non-tolerance has created more frictions in society.”

Mahmood said, instead, in the global arena, even if we do not accept another’s point of view, at least the right should be given for them to maintain those views. That is “because confrontation is the result of disagreements, when you do not want to allow others to maintain their point of view.

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Regarding the GDI, he said China is a very old civilization and its principles are very humane. Sharing is the philosophy of Chinese civilization, and they would like to share whatever they have. 

“In the community of nations, we are all citizens of this globe. Definitely, there are different levels of developments in different countries,” he said, “So President Xi’s GDI says that we should share our development with everybody to achieve the goal of common prosperity for humanity.”

With the three initiatives, Xi is thinking beyond China, and the Chinese people hope to share their experience and their prosperity with partners all over the world, Mahmood said.

“If there is so much disbalance in the development levels of different countries, it creates frictions,” he said. “So, it’s important that we should have a GDI wherein we can contribute to other people's issues, and also can help them in the journey towards development and progress.”

Mahmood said that GDI is a very important part of Xi’s idea of working to build a community with shared values, and shared prosperity. It also matches exactly with the Global Sustainable Development Initiative of the United Nations.

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He noted that on March 29 he was listening to the speech of former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, at a panel on security at the forum. “It was a very, very sad statement he (Ban) made that he does not think the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN will be achieved by 2030,” he said.

Therefore, Ban emphasized that the world should work harder to achieve these goals.

“I think President Xi’s GDI will complement the UN’s efforts to achieve common prosperity for the global community,” he said.

The theme of this year’s BFA was “An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges”. For the GSI, Mahmood said when the security situation improves, it accelerates development, and when there is development, the security risks are reduced.

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“We can see globally that wherever there are conflicts, they are due to lack of development. People get frustrated,” he said, adding that wherever development takes place, there is a peaceful atmosphere.

Looking at China's development during the past few decades, the political stability and improved security has accelerated the pace of development.

“They go together,” he said, referring to GCI, GDI and GCI. “Therefore, we have to work together for these (initiatives) so that the benefits can be transferred to the entire (global) society.”

vivienxu@chinadailyapac.com