The Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan has vowed to build trust among the people of FATA on the state and its institutions. He said this is his first priority because the underprivileged people of FATA have remained victim of complex regional situation to which they were never a party. He expressed these views while addressing the closing ceremony of two day international conference on the Socio-Economic and Political Currents in FATA: A Way Forward at the Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Museum Hall of the University of Peshawar.

Fifteen research papers were presented from as many national and international scholars in the two day moot organised by the Cell for FATA studies.

The Governor urged the scholars to abstain from drawing conclusions about FATA on superficial analysis and urged them to keep history of the area and the norms of its people as first priority when making recommendations about FATA.

He categorically stated that the dual policy of the state, i.e: support of Afghans against Russian invasion and support to US after Afghanistan was attacked has led to many complications to the region, and FATA being at the forefront has suffered the most in it.

The governor informed about the recent agreements with the Afghan government and opined that due to cooperation of both Pakistan and Afghanistan the cross border terrorism and intervention is going to decrease through the same.

The governor further added that his main concern was the repatriation of the 40% people of FATA who are out of their home and living life of IDPs. The civil machinery of the state has to come to full strength to bring normalcy in FATA so as to bring sustainable development in the area, he added.

Sradar Mehtab appreciated the steps taken by the Cell for FATA studies in arranging various conferences on FATA in the recent past and urged them to bring more indigenous people of FATA to participate in it in order to formulate guidelines for the policy makers.

Earlier the Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Rasul Jan in his speech said that the University of Peshawar was fully  committed to work on regional issues and for that reason has established the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies and the country`s first Cell for FATA studies. He said that the University is located at the cross roads of south and central Asia and will continue to produce specialists of this area.