President Arif Alvi on Thursday urged politicians to work toward ending polarization through negotiations and dialogue to achieve financial and economic stability in Pakistan.
Addressing the concluding session of the Islamabad Conclave-2022—“75 Years of Independence: Achieving Comprehensive National Security”—he said that with the armed forces committing to their functions per the Constitution, it was time for political forces to work toward consensus-building in the national interest.
“The Army has publicly committed to stay out of politics. It’s now for the politicians to grab this opportunity with a sense of responsibility,” he said. “There is nothing which cannot be talked about,” he said, stressing the crises facing the country could be overcome through deliberations.
Lamenting that superpowers had adopted the doctrine of “mutually assured destruction” in the past, he said this had diverted resources that could have been used to alleviate poverty and hunger toward developing more lethal weapon systems. Those some funds, he stressed, could have been used to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence, he said, had provided the country relief and a credible defense system for 20-30 years, but the advent of cyber security had changed the defense system paradigm. Concrete steps should be taken to protect national assets from cybersecurity attacks, he said, maintaining democracy, military defense, information and communication security, and economic independence were essential elements for a comprehensive defense of any nation. He said the Constitution of Pakistan safeguarded the rights of all citizens equally, irrespective of their social status, wealth or influence. He said that justice should be served promptly and cheaply without any discrimination, which would help the country to move forward on a fast-track basis.
On disinformation, Alvi warned it could destroy a country and mislead innocent populations.
The president also discussed population control, saying there was a need to remove taboos attached to contraceptive methods. This, he said, could reduce unwanted pregnancies, which he claimed equaled 50 percent of all pregnancies in the country.