Emphasize the importance of science diplomacy

Lahore: The Pakistan Nuclear Society, in cooperation with the Pakistan Virtual University, the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized a webinar called “Science Diplomacy”. Hundreds of students and professionals from all over the world participated in the seminar .

VU President and Professor Dr. Arshad Saleem Bhatti said at the meeting that the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and universities are important partners in science diplomacy. He said: “As a think tank, we need to analyze our research-based scientific diplomacy methods.”

Most developed countries initiate scientific diplomacy forums not only for their own benefit, but also to help developing countries. “Some of these examples are the Fulbright Scholarship and the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. Our students must use these opportunities to make their mark in the sciences,” said the principal of VU.

Dr. Muhammad Aslam Baig, a professor at the National Center for Physics, said that science diplomacy can be divided into three types, namely, science for diplomacy, science for diplomacy, and science for foreign exchange. Among the three types of diplomacy, science diplomacy is the most important. The best examples are ICTP, CERN, and ITER.

“Our main goal under the Forum on Science Diplomacy is to put diplomats and scientists under one umbrella,” he said. He said that most countries incorporate science into their foreign policies. He also pointed out that coordination between foreign policy and international institutions is very important. He added that scientific diplomacy should be used to express national power or influence, provide information to policymakers to support policies and strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations.

ACDIS) Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Kamran Akhtar Malik talked about Pakistan’s views on science diplomacy. He said that throughout history, scientific progress has been shaping and changing the relative power between nations. He said that the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations defines the functions of diplomats, which include the promotion of scientific relations between countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has certain advantages in scientific cooperation at the international level and in bringing stakeholders together at the national level. He told the audience that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a vaccine production team that will study international cooperation to improve Pakistan’s options for obtaining vaccines. He said that the government has also announced to provide 3 million U.S. dollars in COVID-19 assistance to SAARC countries.

As part of the Science Diplomacy Program, the Pakistani government is providing COVID-19-related assistance to SAARC countries, including equipment such as ventilators and CPAP machines. Professor Raheel Qamar, head of the Science and Technology Department of Islamic UNESCO in Morocco, said that Islamic UNESCO is the UNESCO of the Islamic world, and its main focus is on the capacity building of Muslim students. He said: “We recently announced a $100,000 bonus for scientists who will develop a COVID-19 vaccine or any treatment for this disease. In terms of capacity building, we have also established cooperation with NASA and the Space Foundation of the United States of America. Partnership.” Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi, Chairman of the Pakistan Nuclear Society, expressed his views on “Science Diplomacy-Global Scenarios”. He briefly introduced the actions taken worldwide to implement the scientific diplomacy agenda, the evolution of the conceptual framework of scientific diplomacy, and upcoming issues.