Mahira Khan, Faisal Kapadia among stars in the US for Pakistan Conference at Harvard University

Some of Pakistan’s biggest names from politics, business, academia and entertainment gathered in the United States on Sunday for the annual Pakistan Conference at Harvard University.

Hosted by the Pakistan Student Association at the university’s Graduate School of Education, the initiative aimed to bring together prominent Pakistani and foreign voices to discuss the state of the country and the pressing issues facing it.

This year’s docket of speakers included designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, who had two sessions at the event. He said he was honoured to represent the country abroad, “carrying with me not just our craft, but our potential, our resilience, and the voices that shape the US and Pakistan”.

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He said the conversations he had were about more than just textiles. They were about “entrepreneurship, craft, culture and heritage, about women’s empowerment, inclusion of people with disabilities, education, and the belief that Pakistan can and will rise through its people”.

He thanked the attendees for listening and Harvard students for embracing their identity for the conference.

Joining the designer for a discussion on Pakistan’s cultural depth were musician Faisal Kapadia and New York-based fashion designer Faraz Zaidi. The three got some great pictures with the panel’s moderator, Momina Mustehsan.

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The conference did save the best for last, with actor, entrepreneur and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Mahira Khan delivering the conference’s concluding keynote address.

In an Instagram post after the event, she called the experience a dream.

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She said it was an honour to be at the conference and thanked everyone who made the experience memorable. Khan was especially grateful to the students at Harvard, whose warmth she said made her forget how cold the weather was.

Alongside our celebrities, political and business elites were also present to brief attendees. Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, former national security advisor Moeed Yusuf and Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh spoke on diplomacy and geopolitics.

Former State Bank governor Reza Baqir joined a cohort of CEOs and economists for discussions on the economy and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, the former senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, talked about judicial matters and rule of law.

Authors Zafar Masud and Shahbaz Taseer shared a panel on stories of survival in the face of adversity. Taseer was kidnapped from Lahore in 2011 and held in captivity before being rescued by security forces near Quetta in 2016. Masud on the other hand was one of two survivors of the 2020 crash of PIA flight PK-8303.