Science Diplomacy is an intricate blending of science and the diplomatic process, which can be used as a tool for health, environment, education, and a tool for peace and prosperity. In a nutshell, Science Diplomacy is the tool for achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Pakistan.
Seminar on Science Diplomacy under theme of “Science, Diplomacy & Development” held at COMSTECH auditorium organized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan Academy of Sciences and COMSTECH in collaboration with COMSATS, ECOSF and Technology Times.
Chairman HEC, Coordinator General COMSTECH Dr. Tariq Banuri was the Chief guest of the event. He stressing on Science Diplomacy while addressing the audiences said “On the one hand, diplomats have been instrumental in promoting scientific and technological collaboration between states while on the other, S&T cooperation has been employed as a tool of diplomacy for soft, and sometimes hard, power projection.”
The speakers shed light on themes, such as Science Policy and Science Diplomacy, Cyber Diplomacy, Science Communications, Popularization of Science as Science Diplomacy Initiative, Environment and Climate Change Diplomacy, Science Journalism and Pakistan’s Development Agenda in the context of SDGs in seminar.
Sec. General, Pakistan Academy of Sciences PAS Prof. Dr. M. Aslam Baig, DG ACDIS/Science Diplomacy MoFA Muhammad Kamran Akhter, CEO/Editor Technology Times Sayyed Paras Ali, President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro, Executive Director COMSATS Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi, Advisor COMSTECH and President PAS Prof. Dr. M. Qasim Jan, Founder SDGs Academy Syed Ammar Jaffry, and Deputy Director (Chemical), IC Wing, Ministry of Climate Change Dr Zaigham Abbas were the speakers of the seminar.
It is mentioned that science, technology and innovation have also been recognized as the key drivers for the achievement of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. International scientific collaboration takes place in a conducive eco-system. Among other things, successful partnerships depend on the goals and desired outcomes of collaboration, respective capacities and needs, strengths and weaknesses of the partners as well as the inter-governmental, regulatory and policy frameworks governing STI.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Islamabad, Pakistan launched its “Science Diplomacy Initiative” in January 2019 as an instrument for diplomacy to foster Pakistan’s international STI collaborations and bring sharper focus in the foreign policy realm on SDGs implementation and government’s socio-economic development agenda.
Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are among the key drivers for socio-economic development. STI has assumed increasing significance given the scientific dimensions of most of the contemporary challenges. The transnational and global nature of the contemporary challenges necessitates international cooperation to deal with those challenges. Hence the necessity of international scientific cooperation and science diplomacy is imperative for Pakistan.