Science In Diplomacy: A New Dimension For Foreign Policy Of Pakistan

“The soft power of science has the potential to reshape global diplomacy” – Ahmed Zewail

In a swiftly changing world where new global challenges influence every country, science is not only one of the vibrant forces in socioeconomic progress but also, promoting globalization roles that will exaggerate in the future. Science is considered as a neutral area and has no nationality. In this respect, it is comparatively easier to build up international cooperation through science rather than political or military relations. Moreover, science can play a bridging role between the nations through their scientists which have fragile political relations. It means the deployment of science as a tool of diplomacy – Science in Diplomacy, for the sake of developing better relations among nations.

Science Diplomacy (SciDip) is a reflection of the significance that each country and government grants to science and technology (S&T) in designing and implementing its foreign policy. Up till now, the most developed countries have adopted actions aimed at raising the profile of S&T in decision-making on international affairs, strengthening their S&T activities in foreign policy. The USA, United Kingdom, Japan and New Zealand have created the position of Scientific Advisor in their respective Foreign Ministries; the United Kingdom and Switzerland have integrated their Scientific Councils into their Industrial Councils to better recruit world-class scientists and carry out collaborations, whilst promoting the internationalization of innovation. International scientific and technological cooperation has also become a leading aspect of US foreign policy. The Department of State (DoS) has a Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, making the USA one of few countries in the world with such a government position. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in coordination with the DoS, runs an ambitious grant program for training scientists in the areas of S&T policy within the US government. The DoS scientific diplomacy strategy focuses on promoting overall participation in areas that involve S&T.

Regarding SciDip, the Japanese government established its main policy lines in a document by a group of experts in the field and that document specifically establishes 15 lines of action for utilization of science in diplomacy. For at least the last decade, Germany invests a great deal of effort in international cooperation in the field of education and science through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The German Ministry of Education and Science has its own office for the internationalization of science that receives expert advice. For instance, Germany has been building “Science Houses” in other countries, devoted exclusively to disseminating German technology, innovation and science.

Science in diplomacy is, today more important than ever for:

• Contributing to resolving the most pressing challenges of globalization, such as climate change, food security, pandemics, natural disasters, nuclear proliferation and cyber-security etc.
• Achieving long-term sustainable development, in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.
• Promoting collaboration and harmony in international relations since scientific cooperation can serve as a communication channel when diplomatic relations is inactive.

Geographically, Pakistan is one of the most imperative states but, we could not get its maximum geopolitical benefit. Pakistan needs not only to revitalize bilateral and multilateral relations with neighbors and regional countries but also, world-over for peace, progress and prosperity of our people and also to play the decisive role in the region according to current regional and global scenario. As Pakistan’s new government has formed, now there is a need to revive foreign policy beyond traditional way to achieve our national objective with the mutual consent of all stakeholders, which must be in Pakistan’s best interest and that will benefit the people on the top. Government should make strenuous efforts for getting regional cooperation for peace, progress and mutual development; enhance strong diplomatic relations with primary focus on neighbors by resolving all disputes with regional countries. Unless region is peaceful, our efforts for growth and development will not be succeeded. In this regard, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and foreign policy planners must utilize science in diplomacy as a new dimension for foreign policy of Pakistan and perform the following roles:

https://www.diplomacypakistan.com/articles/science-in-diplomacy-a-new-dimension-for-foreign-policy-of-pakistan/

• Devise the S&T based foreign policy and clear position to science and technology diplomacy (STD) as the new axis. Produce policy papers on subject arising in SciDip, science based foreign policy and strengthen diplomatic proficiency.
• Utilize S&T personnel in diplomatic activities/missions and scientific knowledge in formulating and implementing diplomatic policy and highlight the connection between science and socioeconomic development.
• Develop and implement policies that will strengthen Pakistan science and engineering through international cooperation and monitor S&T development abroad to understand the S&T strategies of other nations for diplomatic agendas and regional groupings.
• Set a diplomatic agenda based on scientific evidence and advice, and lead international efforts and proactively convey the message that Pakistan will take leadership role for the solution of global challenges by using S&T to achieve desirable international circumstances.
• Continue its efforts to strengthen good governance, with emphasis on merit based institutional development and the rule of law, and exceptionally eliminate corruption and nepotism from society as-a-whole.
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Poverty Alleviation In China: Can Pakistan Learn Lessons From Poverty Alleviation Strategies?

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.” – Confucius

It is extensively acknowledged that poverty, inequality and growth are strongly intertwined and form a complex set of triangular relations. Among the most significant is the identification that growth can contribute to poverty reduction but only if the reimbursement of the growth can reach everyone in society. Exclusively, in the case of absolute poverty, it means only if growth can help those living below some nationally or internationally specified poverty line of income escape from such poverty, and embark on some self-sustaining process of self-development and self-realization.

Since the mid-1980s China has developed an extensive officialdom committed to poverty alleviation. The State Council authorized the Leading Group for the Economic Development of Poor Areas (LGEDPA) as the top anti-poverty decision-making body leading to synchronize anti-poverty programs at ministerial levels. During the last three decades, the achievements of China against poverty have fascinated the concentration of social scientists, economists, and international organizations to draw some lessons for developing countries to fight against poverty in their own settings. Over the last 30 years, China has undergone a profound economic transformation and lifted hundreds of millions of people from poverty. This process has reshaped the global economy and changed the economic perception for nations and people all around the world.

On 16^th October 2016, President Xi Jinping announced on China Central Television (CCTV) that he would eliminate poverty in China by 2020. Determinately, China has became the first middle income country to achieve the first Sustainable Development Goal of eradicate poverty with many pioneering and effectual practices in targeted poverty alleviation. In the course of realizing the “Two Centenary Goals” and the Chinese Dream of revitalizing the nation, it is paying attention on safeguarding and civilizing people’s well-being, proliferating all social programs, and caring people’s rights to equal participation and development.

At the 2017 China Poverty Reduction International Forum in Beijing, the Chinese government launched the Global Poverty Reduction Online Knowledge Sharing Database. China’s Internet-based poverty alleviation technique has set an archetype for the rest of the world. As China continues to take a more vigorous role in poverty alleviation on the global stage, it is an ideal position to be a close collaborator with other developing countries and share the lessons it has learned from its own poverty reduction experience. The Chinese Government has been pushing forward its “Internet Plus” strategy in poverty reduction efforts. It has accelerated the government’s poverty reduction efforts in rural areas. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, more than 150,000 poverty-stricken families joined the e-business sector in 2016-17 and the government is planning to take e-business to more than 80% of villages by 2020.

• China’s Poverty Eradication Achievements:

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with poverty reduction as its primary goal, demonstrated the confidence and determination of the international community in jointly eradicating poverty and achieving common development. As the world’s largest developing country, China has always attached great importance to poverty alleviation and development.

• Over 700 million people reduced poverty according to China’s national poverty line.
• The rural poverty-stricken population was reduced to 30.46 million by the end of 2017, with the poverty incidence dropping to 3.1%.
• According to the 1.9 dollar poverty line, China lifted 850 million people out of poverty, with the percentage of people living in extreme poverty falling from 88% to 1.85%.
• China has contributed to over 70% of the poverty reduced across the world, making itself a country with the most people lifted out of poverty in the world.
• Providing 120,000 opportunities and 150,000 scholarships for citizens of developing countries to receive training and education in China.
• Increasing investment in the developing countries to 12 billion dollars by 2030. Setting up the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation with an initial pledge of 2 billion dollar to support developing countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

[International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC)]

The nitty-gritty of Chinese success, in poverty reduction, are rooted in its firm political willpower and commanding organizational capability, which ensured macroeconomic stability and successful poverty alleviation policies at the macro level, and empowered the poor at the micro level. As Pakistan’s new government has formed, now there is a need to revive pro-poor policies beyond traditional ways to achieve objectives which must be in Pakistan’s best interest and that will benefit the poor people of the country. In Pakistan welfare plans will get a tremendous boost if it can learn lessons from China’s experiences and achievements in poverty alleviation through the Poor Rural Communities Development Project, the Southwest Poverty Reduction Project, the Qinba Mountains Poverty Reduction Project, the Gansu and Inner Mongolia Poverty Reduction Project, the Guangxi Rural Poverty Alleviation Pilot Project etc. It is important to note here, policies and programs have also been launched in Pakistan by previous governments, but they have not brought any real change in poverty, mainly due to poor governance and weak institutions, policy gaps, poor implementation and corruption, low public spending and nepotism, population pressure and internal conflicts.

In a nut shell, China’s best practice and successful experience in poverty reduction should be a “Role Model” for Pakistan where almost 75% of the poor are clustered around the poverty line. According to the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform report, 39% of Pakistanis living in multidimensional poverty and 20% slightly above the poverty line. With a truly astonishing reputation, China is irrefutably a world-leader in poverty reduction and there is a lot the rest of the world can learn from its experience, including Pakistan.

http://www.diplomacypakistan.com/articles/poverty-alleviation-in-china-can-pakistan-learn-lessons-from-poverty-alleviation-strategies/

Free, Fair & Transparent Election Without Technology???

“Elections matter, but how much they matter depends entirely on how free, open and fair they are” – Elliott Abrams

With the evolution in science and technology in today’s e-society, modern information and communication systems that have resulted only do not offer easiness for people to find information, but also provides opportunity for people to articulate their wills. The exponential growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially the internet has been useful and yielded positive impact. Numerous studies have witnessed these positive impacts, for instant, in healthcare, e-government and public administrations, education etc.In developed countries ICT have been valuable to the e-societies with e-services. ICTs have brought about a completely innovative and healthier government (e-government) that is seen to be more open to the needs and aspirations of society, more democratic, and more proficient. One key aspect of e-government is the enhancement of e-democracy that engages citizens to support the democratic decision-making processes and strengthen representative democracy through the use of ICTs tool. In particular, the application of ICTs on electoral processes in most developed countries, mainly, electronic voting (e-voting) have been remarkable.In Pakistan, e-democracy and ICT applications in electoral process is at infancy phase where emphasis is gear towards providing public information and services, promoting citizen participation, building trust between government and citizens. Though, much has not been done to guard the integrity of elections i.e. voter registration and voting process but in the last general election perspective, some ICT tools were used in registration verification process via SMS, relevant tools were not effectively employed during voter registration and voting. Furthermore, with the current electoral system in country, it is difficult, if not impossible to track down election frauds, implying that one voter, one registration or one vote is not guaranteed. Consequently, election frauds such as multiple registration, multiple voting, figure falsification and impersonation are not exception, though remains unobserved. Nevertheless, it is believe that when electoral system of this kind exit, the trustworthiness and the integrity of the elections can be threatened or lead to failures and corruption of democracy.

Since, ICTs have turned out to be a significant part of modern society, the term “electronic voting” has become widespread. The term “e-voting” refers to the integration of information and communication technology at one or more stages of the electoral process. It is generally used to describe any type of voting that involves electronic means. However, there are some differences in the definition of electronic voting in terms of the inclusion of the electronic apparatus in the recording of the vote – front-end of the election, or in the counting process – back-end.But, it is fact that when appropriate ICT tools (e-voting) are taken in electoral processes, it can go a long way to rid fraudulent elections practices and uphold its integrity.Electronic voting systems are characterized by the fact that they integrate ICT into the system, which establish many advantages in electoral process in the following ways:

• One of the most potential benefits is the increase in speed of the ballot tabulation process. As the votes are stored digitally and the counting procedure is mechanical, the waiting time for the result is reduced considerably.
• The increase in accuracy of the results is another advantage, but it depends on the kind of system used and design and conditions of the hardware and software, as well as human behavior.
• One key issue that has to be highlighted is the cost associated with electronic voting. The first investment that the government has to make is the purchase of hardware and software, which involves high costs. But it brings economics of scale as the increase of the size of the electoral roll does not increase the cost linearly. It also brings savings in the future elections as the hardware and software are reusable and because the ballots no longer have to be printed, but can now be shown on a computer or terminal screen.
• Accessibility is another added value for electronic voting systems, as it allows alternative ways to access the ballots. It decreases rates of abstention, especially when the remote voting method allows widespread technologies to be used, such as cell phones (for SMS voting) or the internet. The fact that voters do not have to move physically to a vote centre to cast their vote provides geographic independence and better accessibility for people with disabilities, increasing electoral participation.
• Given that the ballots are design through computer systems, multiple languages options can be provided on the ballot. If the system is user-friendly it will also offer more information about each candidate to help the voters in their selection.
• Electronic voting system can help prevent common errors as under-voting (voting for less than the allowed number of candidates) or over-voting (voting for more than the allowed number of candidates).

Today’s e-society obtaining benefits from ICT in various aspects of life ranging from getting ordinary public services to supporting everyday work. The impact of ICTs on elections has been valuable dramatically. It can be used to enhance the democratic process – engage citizens or build trust with the government. Trust building with ICT can also be extended to election process to promote its transparency. Pakistan’s electoral system needs honesty and clearness in its election process and the transparency and trustworthiness of any electoral system is what characterized it to be free and fair which in turn, is one of the foundation stone of democracy. The fact is that, in any democratic society, free and fair election is linked to having a generally acceptable result that goes with organizing and conducting elections in an unbiased and fair manner, devoid of frauds or malpractices. This is because trust and confidence in democracy is only promoted when the electoral system process is transparent and open to all electoral stakeholders. As a nation, we must stand-up and prepare for our will to prevail through a trustworthy and credible electoral exercise along with transfer of power to the true representative not just to the national or provincial assemblies but, to the Union Council level. These are the concerns need observations in the Pakistan’s electoral process and e-voting is solution for free, fair & transparent election.

http://www.diplomacypakistan.com/articles/free-fair-transparent-election-without-technology/

Science & Technology For National Development – Strengthening The S&T Road Map

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“The revolution in communication, energy, environmental sciences and other aspects of science and technology has imparted an importance to S&T considerations in foreign affairs undreamed of a generation ago.” – George Shultz

Prior to the nineteenth century, investment in human capital was not considered especially significant in any country. Similarly, expenditures on schooling, on-the-job training, and other related forms of investment were pretty undersized. This began to transform drastically during this century with the application of science and technology (S&T) to the development of new goods and more efficient methods of production – research and development (R&D). During the twentieth century, education skills, and the acquisition of knowledge have become crucial determinants of a person’s and a nation’s productivity. One can even call the twentieth century the “Age of Human Capital” in the sense that the prime determinant of a country’s standard of living is how it succeeds in developing and utilizing the skills and knowledge, and furthering the education and health of the majority of its inhabitants.  The astonishing evolution in different fields of S&T have had a deep impact on our lives in approximately every subject of our activity, such as health, agriculture, communication, transportation, security and defense. These progresses have been obsessed by an ever-growing degree of exhilarating discoveries, principally emanating from science laboratories in the West, and by their transformation into new products or processes that have flooded world markets. These floods in turn shower gigantic economic rewards on those nations that have the will and vision to make S&T the cornerstone of their development agendas.

The world is today piercingly divided by a technology frontier that separates the technologically advanced countries from the technologically backward ones. The developed countries have been able to use their scientists and engineers for speedy economic growth, whereas the so-called developing countries are relegated to the role of consumers of technological products. They become almost entirely dependent on the advanced countries for most of their needs, be they chemicals, biomedical, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, transportation equipment, or defense equipment. In the course, more and more funds from developing countries are being transferred to developed countries, raising the level of poverty in the developing countries. Hypothetically, the first decade of the twenty-first century has seen the global center of gravity shift toward the Asia-Pacific region. Its population already accounts for more than half of the world’s people and is anticipated to surpass the collective Western World by 2030. The Asia-Pacific is home to the fastest escalating economies in the world and its collective share of global GDP is quickly impending 40 percent. The region has also developed an elaborate system of organizations on S&T, R&D, economic and security matters, promoting continual development and political strength.

Consequently, dependence on S&T as an instrument for achievement of national development goals is a phenomenon seen all over the word. In Pakistan, due to negligence and faulty vision of planners in governments and bureaucracy, the S&T, R&D sector was never given the status mandatory to efficiently use it as a contributor to national development. The current level of S&T efforts in the country in much below the requirements as compared with regional countries and the scientific and technological gap is widening with the passage of time. That's why, to live in the twenty-first century with grace, the immediate formulation and implementation of a well thought-out, well-planned science and technology strategy is urgently needed. In this regards, to strengthening the S&T Road Map, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) and S&T authorities may perform the following role:

·         The government should develop and implement policies that will strengthen Pakistan science and engineering through international cooperation. And, should have mechanisms to participate in the key fields of research cooperation for the world scientific enterprise.

·         The government should muster as much reasoned long-range anticipation as possible about how science and technology may be applied to any and all Pakistan interests.

·         The government should use the Pakistan science base for shorter-range problem assessment. The nation’s scientists and engineers assist the government’s officials, acting as referees and analysts of information with respect to current international issues.

·         The government should monitor S&T developments abroad and understand the S&T, R&D strategies of other nations and regional groupings.

·         The government should plan to take joint action with other nations to address transnational problems, through the necessary bilateral, multilateral frameworks. And, identify the critical needs and provide high-leverage technical cooperation with developing and regional countries.

·         The government should use its technical expertise to support negotiation of new international agreements, conventions, and protocols and integrate expert knowledge in science and engineering into adjudication and regulation at the international level.

Technopolitika: Pak-Sino R&D Cooperation Via CPEC

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Throughout history, integration between different regions has been a key element in enhancing economic activity and trade. This cooperation has long been facilitated by the diverse means of research and development (R&D) and technology innovations, such as railways, roads, and water & power systems etc. Technological innovation not only widened the possibilities of cultural and economic exchange, but also facilitated and fastened such interactions, promoting cooperation and setting up the bases for the globalized world in which we live today. Similarly, infrastructure investment is one of the main pillars of economic growth. It peps economic activity, generating employment and reducing trade costs, improves productivity and directly supports growth in different sectors in the economy.

In 2013, the President of China, Xi Jinping, announced one of the main projects of its foreign policy – the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) the major global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This ambitious plan seeks to promote regional integration and cooperation through the resignification of the Old Silk Road. OBOR/BRI pursues the development of an economic corridor across Eurasia, by mitigating the infrastructure gap that haunts the continent. The scope of the project, which includes more than 60 countries and guarantees great expenditures, shows up as a turning point in today’s world economic order. Pakistan and China, as the core player in this scenario, progressively becoming the new economic gravitational hubs, escalating its influence in the global politics and ascertaining tighter relations among other nations.

Pakistan enjoys a unique geographical landscape situated at the cross-roads in South Asia, considered as one of the vibrant geostrategic region of the world. In South Asia, there is exceptional Chinese cooperation with Pakistan. China and Pakistan as all weather strategic partners have a history of glorious friendly relations. Both countries always try to make strong these relations through different geo-political, strategic and economic agreements. The Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) is also a key to make strong economic relations of both countries. It is considered to be an extension of China’s proposed 21^st century Silk Road initiative and considered a centre for their relations. CPEC long-term project as a major part of the OBOR the global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by the Chinese government, scheduled to complete by 2030. CPEC is a joint project that Beijing and Islamabad agreed to finance through Chinese investments. Pakistan sees China’s initiative as a peace and prosperity developer, and the CPEC as a strengthening to the regional economy. While the project has been welcomed by Greater Eurasia (including Russia, Iran and Central Asia), besides the United Kingdom and Western European Countries. Similarly, for Iran, the OBOR will help to fight its geopolitical isolation from the Western world order. Sri Lanka is also a fundamental station on the Maritime Silk Road, looking at China as an opportunity to distance itself from Western and Indian dependence.

Correspondingly, China’s development is part of an elementary transformation of the global distribution of knowledge capital. State-of-the-art technology and world-class scientists are no longer the prerogative of the developed world. Developing countries are claiming increasing shares not only of world trade, manufacturing, and raw material consumption but also of global knowledge resources, both with regard to highly skilled labor and to corporate R&D. China is enthusiastically competing for these resources. The latest long-term plan reflects Beijing’s desire to address growing domestic social and S&T innovation problems through R&D and to become one of the world’s knowledge hub. China’s emergence as a magnet and now even producer of frontier-level science and high technology demands other countries, particularly Pakistan, to formulate education, research, innovation, and development strategies from the scratch. Though facing substantial challenges in its quest to become a world leader in science, technology and innovation, China offers momentous opportunities both for mutually beneficial cooperation in R&D and for trade of knowledge intensive goods and services. China’s opening to the world, prioritization of science and technology, research and development, education and innovation, and desire to acquire knowledge and technology may offer imperative opportunities and vehicles for the CPEC project to institutionalized cooperation on issues of R&D and global relevance.

In a nutshell, CPEC is a project of major importance; it is one which has enough worth to herald the economics of two nations in particular and the development of whole South Asia in general. Slowly and gradually, China is becoming a global leader in science and technology. China’s ambitions to become a global knowledge center could be an optimistic development providing opportunities by working with China, both bilaterally and within international forums (China-ASEAN Science and Technology Partnership Program), the fields of science and technology, research and development, brought under CPEC, can truly prove to be a game-changer for Pakistan.

Pak-Sino Health Diplomacy: A Novel Paradigm For CPEC Project

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The global developments are shifting the nature of human interaction across a wide range of social sphere including the economic, political, cultural, health and environmental. Globalization is driving a world system comprising national economies and societies that are increasingly influenced by factors outside their borders. Contemporary globalization is a driving force behind the rise of health as a foreign policy concern. Currently, many governments are implementing structural and administrative reforms aimed at improving health system performance. Many of these reforms are advocated by international organizations and consequently, the focus tends to concentrate on areas such as financing, management, and structure of health system. Among the major focus of reforms is to ensure quality health care provisions are affordable to all and that health service should be accessible to all.

Historically, Pakistan and China have a multidimensional relationship, providing a good example of peaceful coexistence between two states with differing beliefs, social, cultural, and ever changing geo-political archetypes. China has supported Pakistan economically, militarily and politically, while Pakistan was China’s only reliable free world diplomatic partner during its international isolation. Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been connecting significance to utilize health as a tool for endorsement of foreign relations, playing different function at different times. Similarly, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the OBOR/BRI vision proposed to push economic integration and connectivity across the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, through the construction of new land and maritime transport infrastructures and the development of pipelines and information networks. This grand vision envisages an overland “Silk Road Economic Belt” across the Eurasian continent and a “Maritime Silk Road” across Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Given its geo-strategic position, Pakistan is ideally poised to serve as interconnection between the two routes; that is the reason the Chinese leadership has acknowledged CPEC as a flagship project in the whole scheme of OBOR/BRI.

Traditionally, health issues have resided in a political position in policy practice, so as having momentous importance in CPEC project. In recent years, certain health issues have received attention at the highest levels of national and international politics. The threats from bioterrorism, infectious diseases, pandemic and epidemic diseases, viruses of special concern and an increasing awareness of the link between health and economic development have each devised a role in relating health to the traditional foreign policy goals of protecting state security and promoting national economic interests. Health and diplomacy are closely linked phenomenon as health is a highly scientific and technical domain and states cannot ignore the epidemiological reality of many health crises, it can be hypothesized that the health research community and scientific research evidence play a powerful influencing role in the development process.

The architecture of health diplomacy is progressively multifaceted in the 21^st century. The mounting awareness of the prospective value of the assimilation of health in foreign policy as a phenomenon worthy of further attention, principally in the CPEC. The geo-strategic corridor is beneficial not only for Pak-Sino relations but also, for the regional development that will eventually benefit all neighboring countries. In this regard the government of Pakistan, health and foreign policy planners may perform the following roles:

·         Integrate a health perspective into traditional foreign policy and create an information platform for Pak-Sino Health Diplomacy.

·         Establish the coordinating office for Health Diplomacy to highlight the connection between health and well-being, social and economical development.

·         Utilize science and technology, and health personnel in diplomatic activities/missions and promote strategic joint research and development with China and regional countries with high diplomatic importance.

·         And, exhibit good moral character; exceptionally give priority to fight against corruption and nepotism throughout not only CPEC development but also, society as-a-whole.

Pakistan’s location at the cusp of Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia makes it ideally suited for inter-regional trade. The infrastructures developed under the CPEC will not only facilitate Pakistan but also China, to accomplish the dream of becoming a regional and global trading, diplomatic and health tourism nuclei. Once the projects are put into practice, Pakistan’s geo-strategic location should make it a potential nexus for the Eurasian “Silk Road Economic Belt” and a Southeast Asian “Maritime Silk Road”. The CPEC could then not only serve as a game changer for China and Pakistan, but also for the entire region.

GIS For National Security And Counterterrorism Strategy

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At least for the last three decades, one of the most discussed topics in social sciences is terrorism and national security. However, social sciences lack a logical justification of why terrorism occurs? Why it escalates and de-escalates? Why certain types of victims are selected? And, what determines the choice of weapons? Despite some contributions by scholars from security and regional geopolitics, political science, law and international relations, the state of hypothesis, data and facts about causes of terrorism remains in hysteria.

Justifiably, terrorism remains one of the security challenges of the modern world – together with organized crime, extremism, religious, ethnic and social conflicts. Identifying that terrorism is an artifact of an amalgamation of demographic, economic, and political determinants, a panel of National Research Council observes that “regions most likely to generate terrorist threats have a history of colonialist exploitation by Western interests, and of postcolonial economic and cultural penetration. Particularly in nondemocratic societies, conflicts generally reflect class, ethnic, racial, or religious divisions”.

Since 9/11 attacks and its causes and consequences, the terror events have sparked transformed concern in the deployment of technologies in the fight against terror and national security. Despite the characterization and dimension of terrorism changing over the decades, GIS has been found to be a very effective contrivance. It has the potential of preventing, predicting or countering terrorist attacks, while helping to strategize and support ground level combat operations. GIS application in the fight against terror begins with monitoring and surveillance of terror activity. It moves on to disseminate critical information through the various public service agencies, law enforcement agencies, intelligence departments and homeland security system. In the event of a terror attack, geospatial tools and technologies not only help to secure citizens and property but also, support the ground combat operations.

An act of terrorism does not happen in the vacuum usually has a planning cycle thus, displays distinct temporal trends. At the same time, the planning exposes a bimodal spatial pattern of preparation and target selection. The bimodal geospatial platform is capable to project the terrorist’s pre-attack behavior in a space-time trajectory and the information may available in real time for a decision support system. GIS technology enables a seamless flow of information between intelligence and law enforcements agencies for monitoring and combat operations not only at the local but also, neighborhood level. GIS and related geospatial technologies can be applied to national security and counterterrorism in five principle manners. Firstly, GIS can serve as a tool for intelligence analysis. Secondly, GIS can be employed to simulate scenarios for terrorist attacks to identify and harden targets. Thirdly, GIS can be used to coordinate the immediate response to an actual attack by providing information on the proximity of attacked sites to first responders – police, fire, medical and other resources. Fourthly, GIS as well as GPS, aerial videography, laser detection and ranging (LiDAR) can be used to assess the short-term and intermediate-term effect of an attack and aid in establishing the boundaries of evacuation zones, locating evidence, locating and rescuing victims, building collapse, and so on. Lastly, GIS and satellite remote sensing or digital aerial imagery can be used to coordinate retaliation in the form of air strikes and to assist a whole range of more subtle military, paramilitary and law enforcement responses. 

Areas of GIS Application in National Security and Counterterrorism:

·         Terror Group Surveillance

·         Intelligence Gathering and Visualization

·         Contingency Planning

·         Military/Police Operations

·         Timely Decision Support

·         Real-time management of field operations

·         Monitoring of Potential Targets

·         Area Assessment – terrain, layout, location, roadmap

·         Countering Terrorist Financing

·         Geospatial Intelligence

In the Pakistan context, volatile neighborhood necessitate that the Pakistan Armed Forces have to be prepared for operations across the spectrum of conflict – sub-conventional, conventional and nuclear. Such a threat scenario can only be effectively addressed by the efficient use of modern technologies and systems using GIS tools. The fight against terrorism cannot be efficient without cooperation and coordination of activities and actors. Apart from an adequate legislative framework, which is indispensable for the security system to run smoothly, it is also important to keep the right channels for a swift and reliable exchange of relevant information. It is thus necessary to constantly review the communication and cooperation equipment and processes and make sure they are fit for purpose both in terms of current and long-term needs.