ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday asserted that national security was linked with the inclusive development and equitable growth of all segments of society, provinces, and people.
“We all know our focus was on military power but the national security is actually an all-encompassing thing. You can’t have national security until there is inclusive growth,” the premier said while addressing the opening session of the Margalla Dialogue 21 with the theme “Breaking Past, Entering Future” in Islamabad.
The premier pointed out that unequal distribution of resources leads to anarchy among the people who are left out of the mainstream development. He said the uplift of underprivileged segment of the society was critical to ensure national security.
The prime minister further said no country could be secure where a small segment kept getting richer and those at the bottom were left behind — and the same applied to certain areas or cities developing while other parts of the country were left behind.
He regretted that Pakistan had suffered an inequality due to three simultaneous educational systems, namely English and Urdu medium schools, and the madrassas.
PM Imran said differences in educational standards of the systems resulted in three different kinds of generations with discrimination in opportunities of jobs. “Corruption, particularly of the elite, was detrimental to the development of a country,” he added.
The prime minister emphasized the importance of research by the think tanks of the country to counter the negative propaganda in the world. “Research leads to original thinking within a society. You have to define yourself instead of letting others define you,” he said.
Referring to Afghan war, the prime minister said that Pakistan was the country that suffered most in collateral damage in the wake of the Afghan conflict, however was made a scapegoat for the mistakes of the superpowers.
He mentioned that inability of the national leadership to handle the Afghan situation wisely landed the country into two main pro and anti-America divisions.
He said the role of local thinktanks in this situation was important to effectively highlight Pakistan’s perspective in the world rather than being under continuous criticism by the western lobbies.
