Every year, Science Day is celebrated across the world. This time as well, I had the opportunity to present my paper at a Science Day seminar, and during this, I strongly realized that Pakistan has not yet made any significant progress in the fields of science and diplomacy.
Science and diplomacy are means through which research harmony can be achieved globally, and different countries can collaborate in scientific endeavors. For this, it is essential that scientific cooperation continues through diplomatic channels, ensuring funding wherever required. However, focused attention in this area is crucial.
It is as clear as daylight that in today’s world—where international borders divide nations—science unites humanity. World Science Day reminds us how knowledge and research can bring innovation and how dialogue and scientific tools can help in resolving conflicts.
For example, in the recent ceasefire conference held in Istanbul between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistan used scientific methods such as geomapping and geofencing to locate terrorist hideouts and provided the Afghan team with intelligence, clues, and evidence regarding sites where conspiracies and plans against Pakistan were being made, and where TTP terrorists were being trained and sent to Pakistan. It was through science that the identification of terrorist hideouts became possible using research-based geofencing, Google mapping, and satellite instruments. With the help of science, border crossings can be monitored, and during bilateral dialogues, evidence-based proofs can be presented to support one’s position and resolve disputes.
If we talk about global common issues, then climate change, oceanography, marine ecosystems, and vaccine delivery for the treatment of deadly diseases are vital. Scientists are striving for these goals and are now quite close to finding a cure for cancer. Just as scientists made vaccines available to combat the global pandemic of COVID-19, now, through genome research, they are close to finding a cure for cancer as well. It seems that just as once-incurable diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox, measles, hepatitis, and cholera have been cured, cancer too will not remain incurable in the future. For this, global cooperation among nations is essential so that humanity may benefit collectively.
Innovation in education helps promote scientific research that benefits humanity, allowing nations to learn from each other’s experiences and move forward on the path of progress and development. Through diplomacy and science, global research cooperation can be further strengthened. It should also be noted that the way artificial intelligence is being advanced worldwide, the countries that fail to keep pace with this research and technology will lag far behind. Pakistan should also move forward in the fields of science and diplomacy and engage with the international community so that its people can benefit from artificial intelligence at affordable and accessible levels.
Pakistan continues its efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and through stronger scientific diplomacy and collaboration with other countries, it can accomplish multiple SDG targets, including poverty reduction, hunger alleviation, health and education improvement, and sanitation management.
It is also important to note that Pakistan has fallen behind not only its neighboring countries but also the world in agricultural research aimed at increasing productivity. This failure to benefit from global agricultural research has caused stagnation and even decline in Pakistan’s agricultural output.
On the occasion of Science Day, it was reaffirmed that given our current circumstances, we must collaborate with those developed countries that have achieved far greater milestones in agricultural research than we have.
Agricultural productivity can be multiplied many times, and it is necessary that, through scientific diplomacy, we engage with countries from Eastern and Western Europe or China to take part in joint research activities and derive maximum benefit for Pakistan’s agricultural sector.
The matter does not end here—keeping pace with modern times requires that we familiarize our younger generation with artificial intelligence and the scientific innovations being made worldwide. Our participation in scientific diplomacy can help our youth move toward a brighter future, contributing to the talent economy in the same way Pakistan has recently gained importance in foreign policy and geopolitics. It is now crucial to strengthen economic diplomacy, in which we have lagged behind in the past, and also focus on scientific diplomacy, which has been neglected, to ensure the advancement of our present and future generations in scientific and diplomatic fields.
The lack of prioritization of science in our beloved homeland is a bitter reality, and the clearest example of this is the esteemed institution, the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST), established under the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology Act, 2016, considered the apex decision-making body for strengthening science and technology nationwide. The irony and misfortune, however, is that a meeting of this crucial institution was held after a long gap of 24 years, which reflects that our leaders, including the Prime Minister, place the field of science at the lowest rank in their list of priorities.
Under such grim circumstances, if the future of science and technology in Pakistan is not considered bleak, then what else could it be called? How can the talented youth of this nation be provided the opportunities necessary to engage in 21st-century scientific research and innovation? Living nations place scientific knowledge at the forefront for the progress and development of their youth, whereas nations standing at the crossroads of decline rank science at the bottom of their priorities, giving precedence to unnecessary political matters driven by personal interests.
