A couple of months ago, while interacting with my friend in Pakistan, I was introduced to the Seliger Youth Forum – a camping/educational event, organized around the beautiful Lake Seliger in Russia.

I pounced on this opportunity of not only visiting Russia, a country that was for long on my travel wish list, but also meeting my friend after a long time. After landing in Moscow, we were taken to Seliger, some 300 miles from Moscow, in special buses that were waiting for us at the metro station.

We reached Seliger Lake and the camping site early morning and were soon given a tour of the whole camping facility that was made up of thousands of small personal tents, lecture tents, eating facilities, and most importantly, a Wifi facility.

The seven day experience at Lake Seliger consisted of waking up early in the morning with the Russian national anthem and music in old-style military speakers, followed by morning exercise, and then the breakfast.

After breakfast, there were a series of educational lectures until 8 pm that were held both in Russian and in English by famous speakers on various topics, ranging from self-help to business studies. The lectures were followed by a daily evening meeting at the center stage and an extra-curricular activity or a game played by many participants. These games were instrumental in bringing together people from different countries and motivated them to interact with one another.

One of the major highlights of the Seliger forum was an event called the Global Village where participants were encouraged to represent their countries through their dress, food, culture or even music.

The Pakistani contingent was one of the few prominent groups that was a major center of attention, as many foreigners were interested in learning more about the nation’s culture and dress. The Indian contingent also did a great job, and both Indian and Pakistani youth showcased great levels of friendship and brotherhood, unlike our ruling elites and politicians. Such was the bond among both the contingents that many foreigners couldn’t differentiate between the two.

One of the best feelings for a Pakistani participating in an international conference is meeting Chinese participants. The moment you introduce yourself to them, they would reply in their sweet accent “from Pakistan? Brothers Right? Pakistan-China brothers.”

This is what I have experienced visiting many countries and conferences, in addition to Seliger when I met my Chinese friend Lee.

Another high point that won over many participants especially the Muslims and Hindus was the arrangement of Iftar (fasting) and vegetarian food for those who could not eat non-vegetarian food or were fasting.

Going through this amazing experience, I wondered why couldn’t Pakistan hold such an event? Why can’t the policy makers initiate an event on such themes that could help the country, the people and its image? And for that purpose, we need an event like Seliger in Pakistan.

Pakistan has many locations that are equal or may even be better than Lake Seliger, such as Swat Valley, Naran, and Gilgit Baltistan, where an event on same model can be implemented – though initially on a smaller and local scale.

In the initial phase, such an event could bring together local Pakistani students from different provinces, and help them shed their clichés and biases against each other. Such a gathering could promote national harmony and could make the participants as harbingers of peace and change.

Once the initiative becomes successful, the government can start inviting international students and youth, and provide our youth with an opportunity to interact with foreigners and improve their communication and interpersonal skills.

But above all, such an event could be greatly instrumental in removing the clichés against Pakistanis and Pakistan from those who don’t know much about the country. This is what I experienced having different opinion about Russia, but after visiting the country and interacting with the people, I feel that Russians are the most amazing bunch of people you could ever encounter.

Our government spends a lot of funds on various youth development projects, but spending on such an initiative like the Seliger Forum could help nurture the youth of the country both for the short as well as the long term. With all the negative news around the world, now is the time when Pakistan needs such an event to promote a positive message.

Farooq Yousaf is a research analyst, program consultant and content editor at the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad. He is pursuing his higher Studies at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy in Germany, and he can be reached at farooq@crss.pk, or farukyusaf@gmail.com. Read other articles by Farooq.