President urges politicians to reduce political polarisation through democratic means

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi says the armed forces are committed to performing their mandated functions as per the Constitution, therefore, all politicians should commit themselves to democratic means of negotiations, consultations and deliberations to achieve consensus on issues confronted by the nation and reduce political polarisation to achieve financial and economic stability in the country.

The president expressed these views on Thursday while addressing the concluding session of Islamabad Conclave-2022, titled “75 Years of Independence: Achieving Comprehensive National Security”.

He said in the past the superpowers adopted the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, which diverted resources of the world towards meeting and developing more lethal weapon systems.

Even if a fraction of those resources, he said, were diverted, poverty and hunger in the world could have been eliminated as well as the effects of climate change mitigated.

He added that democracy, military defence, information and communication security, and economic independence were essential elements for a comprehensive defence of the country.

The president said the Constitution of Pakistan safeguarded the rights of all citizens equally, irrespective of their social status, wealth or influence.

He said justice should be served promptly and cheaply without any discrimination, which would help the country to move forward on a fast-track basis.

President Alvi said information was another vital element of national security as disinformation could be used to destroy the country and mislead innocent people.

He said disinformation regarding the ‘weapons of mass sestruction’ led to a major conflict in the Middle East, which resulted in the loss of many precious lives, and the destruction of property and assets.

He stated that Pakistan acquired nuclear deterrence, which provided it relief and a credible defence system for 20 to 30 years, but with the advent of cyber security, the entire defence system paradigm had changed.

He stressed that concrete steps should be taken to safeguard national assets from cyber security attacks. A system should be set in place for countering any future cyber-attacks in the country, he added.

The president urged higher education institutions to avoid refusing admission to students. All aspiring students should be given admission to increasing the number of persons with higher education, he added.

The Higher Education Commission should take decisive and concrete steps to increase the capacity and capabilities of higher education institutions by adopting out-of-the-box solutions and bringing in hybrid and online teaching systems to ensure that all aspiring students could be accommodated in the higher education system, he remarked.

Talking about population control, he said there was a need to remove taboos attached to the preventive methods of population control and ensure the availability of contraceptives. This, he said, could reduce unwanted pregnancies, which were 50% of the total pregnancies that took place in the country.

ISSI Director General Ambassador Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary briefed the participants about the issues discussed at the conclave.

He informed that discussions were held on topics such as defence and security, the search for peace in South Asia, Pakistan’s economic frontiers, the pursuit of geo-economics, and Pakistan’s human and economic security.

Keynote speaker FS Aijazuddin termed population the major issue on the internal front whereas relations with India were the one on the external front. He also highlighted major challenges in the way of enhancing regional connectivity.